Marin County looks at initiative to curb cardboard waste

CORTE MADERA, Calif. (KGO) -- It's been called the "cardboard economy," one that only heats up with the holidays. The number of packages shipped each year in the U.S. is approaching 200 billion.

Tis the season for cardboard, and lots of it. The kind generated by all that holiday online shopping and the home delivery that comes with it, so much so that some in Marin County are calling for Amazon to reign in its own waste.

"Too many boxes, I don't know what happens with these boxes," said shopper Kevin Kafayi. "How they are disposed of, that's an issue."

RELATED: Marin County woman helping build better Bay Area with plan to re-use Amazon boxes

In June, ABC7 News introduced you to Carolyn Lund who launched a Change.org petition, asking Amazon to launch a pilot program in Marin County that would require drivers to not only drop off packages, but also pick up the empties.

"Have the delivery trucks pick them up on subsequent deliveries and return them to Amazon warehouses for reuse," said Lund.

Lund's petition now has more than 7,000 signatures and has picked up the support of seven communities.

Corte Madera's town council is still considering whether to support the initiative.

"We have too many things traveling to our homes in boxes and we have a whole lot of extra cardboard right now," said David Kunhardt, a member of the Corte Madera Town Council.

More than a few of the Black Friday shoppers we talked with Friday in Corte Madera said they do feel guilty about all the packaging that comes with their online deliveries.

"It's unfortunate. It's really a toss up between convenience and a moral issue," said Nan Foster.

ABC7News was unable to reach Amazon for comment on the Marin initiative, but the company claims to have dramatically cut its use of packaging over the past decade by some 250 million tons.