The pandemic and stay-at-home orders have accelerated the growth of e-commerce in orders of magnitude. We are surely buying more items online now than ever before.

As a consequence, the amount of packaging trash -- most especially plastic and bubble wrap -- has also increased. This is compounded by several factors:

1. Many buyers rate sellers and their items on the basis of how they are packaged. Items get poor and negative reviews because they arrive with acceptable damage to their original packaging.
2. Couriers and handlers also pressure sellers and online retailers to excessively wrap their items to further ensure items are pristine when they arrive at customer's doorstep. This is exacerbated by the COD option of purchase and the customer can decline a product delivered to their doorstep because original item's packaging was bruised.

Remedies at large online platforms like Lazada and Shopee include discriminating between reviews of item's packaging and actual performance and customer experience. They can also establish packaging best practices for sellers to follow. Start with the largest sellers to make the biggest difference.

Items that are originally packaged well enough to ship (in hard cardboard boxes), or are not fragile, should be differentiated and thus require less packaging. Buyers should be given an option for "environmentally-responsible packaging" or be required to pay additional fees for "hardened packaging".

Couriers must also play a role and take responsibility. Standardizing delivery options might help. Having safer but slower options (small truck instead of motorcycle) is an option I will personally favor, if only to ensure less packaging.

Finally, online platforms should spend time and effort to educate their customers about environmentally-responsible packaging and the role the customers play in lowering plastic consumption. Show customers the more responsible options available to them online and how with a few clicks they can help keep plastics out.