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Is This Walmart Order Blunder a Life Hack?

A Walmart customer posted a viral video unpacking a delivery of cardboard boxes, only to find something strange with the shipment.

TikTok user @madebyjewel has reached over 584,000 views on his video. To start, @madebyjewel stands directly next to a stack of cardboard boxes outside of his house.  packing help

“We got this huge shipment here today,” he says as the camera pans down the line of boxes. “Just wanted to show you what we got.”

@madebyjewel begins to open the first box that he is closest to and explains how there are 24 boxes total. “Ready?” he asks as he rips open the tape. 

Next, he pulls out an arm-full of green pre-inflated air pillows from the box. He mentions they are used to protect the item at the bottom of the box during shipping and handling. 

“And what’s in this?” he asks as he digs to the bottom of the cardboard box. “We have one box,” he adds, trying not to laugh. 

“One box, in every single one of these,” he further explains as he points down the line of boxes. @madebyjewel pulls out a broken down cardboard box from the inside of the original Walmart shipping box he opened and holds it up to the camera. 

@madebyjewel gives a thumbs-up to the camera, smiles, and says, “Good job, Walmart,” as he ordered 24 boxes, and received 48.

“I think this is a life hack for when moving, lmao,” a user told @madebyjewel in the comments section of his video. 

“The way I see it is you got double the amount of boxes and packing stuffing for when you pack,” another added.

However, one sarcastically mentioned, “and we don’t have plastic straws anywhere in Europe, to save the environment.” 

SwiftPak states that one con of cardboard production is that the process is “water intensive” and “generates emissions and runs the risk of encouraging deforestation if not sourced sustainably.”

On top of that, the site states that cardboard is difficult to recycle if contaminated with food or other waste before depositing. 

According to News19, Walmart states that customers have the option to choose from “recyclable paper mailers and right-sizing cardboard box packaging.” It adds that cardboard delivery is useful as it consolidates shipping on e-commerce orders and “reduces mileage and delivery times.”

Right-size packaging is an approach that Walmart says involves creating a custom package to fit a customer’s order, thus “eliminating any unused space in the box.” 

Walmart hopes this technology reduces the need for any filler inside boxes by “reducing waste caused by oversized boxes by as much as 26%,” making a better unboxing experience for customers overall.

Shoppers may also request for multiple items to be consolidated into fewer boxes, which Walmart says “reduce[s] waste and the number of shipments.”

The Daily Dot reached out to @madebyjewel via TikTok comment and direct message and to Walmart via media contact form. 

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tube packaging box Grace Fowler is freelancer reporter and past summer media fellow with the Daily Dot. She’s a graduate of Texas State University, where she studied mass communications.