where did all the bubble wrap go?

Why has packaging evolved so much in the past few years? And where did all the bubble wrap go? In this video, Sabrina explores the evolution of packaging and tests what she learns through an egg drop with Taha and Melissa.

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SOCIAL MEDIA
Sabrina
Melissa
Taha

CREDITS
Produced by Sabrina Cruz
Featuring Taha Khan and Melissa Fernandes
Research Assistance by Austin Thompson
Video Editing by Joe Trickey
Motion Design by Sabrina Cruz
Sound Design by Joe Trickey
Special Thanks to The Sorry Girls

MUSIC

RECOMMENDED READING
The Accidental Invention of Bubble Wrap

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 the ultimate first world problem
00:45 finally, a subject too niche for Sabrina
00:55 Taha is very supportive and does not have a shopping problem
01:31 issuing the egg drop challenge
02:31 what makes good packaging
03:10 Taha’s struggles (condensed)
04:17 what did we use before bubble wrap
04:39 why we stopped using sustainable packaging
05:22 a modern replacement (biodegradable packaging)
06:31 Melissa’s kitchen raid
07:06 how packing peanuts work
07:35 what happened to bubble wrap
08:53 can we make bubble wrap better
10:06 can we make shipping better
10:24 why we don’t have electric planes
10:36 Sabrina ignored everything she learned about good packaging
10:52 can we make electric planes more powerful
11:30 about the OPPO Inspiration Challenge
12:35 the egg drop
13:20 who won the egg drop? you decide!
14:09 thanks again to OPPO

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Welcome to the joke under the fold! Did you hear about that company that is dropshipping canned ham?

They got shut down for sending spam mail.

Leave a comment with the word SPAM to let me know you were here ;-)

[answerinprogress]

So who do you think won the egg drop challenge? 👀

[weirdowithwifi]

Love how this video is an egg drop experiment but with history

[kayleighalvarez]

I was surprised the video didn't mention starch based packing peanuts. They are literally vegetable starch and easily break down.

[__dane__]

The fact that she thought a paper airplane could fly while holding the weight of an egg is BAFFLING

[Seafowl]

Love that Taha managed to lazily find out one way they packaged products with one google search and Sabrina actually predicted Taha would do it

[Huntracony]

I expected the quail egg to be some kind of metaphor, like maybe if we build less fragile products they wouldn't need as much packaging, but no it was just cheating.

[cherrycookie]

I'm surprised that the version with pasta, which seemingly took the least effort to make and didn't require buying anything, did so extremely well - both contained the egg and kept it safe.

[glenmoody-elias]

"Video starts at 7:38" is so incredibly meta, and it's a joke I am so here for.
I love your trio having science related fun. It's beautiful.

[Ashley-xulk]

Sabrina, no matter how powerful the motor, it will not change the PAPER plane's ability to carry a load as heavy an egg. It was not structurally design to carry such a load. Also a more powerful motor would likely mean more mass which means an even larger load weighing down the plane. Aside from that, looks like you all had fun and glad to see Terry survive the fall.

[vigilantcosmicpenguin]

I love how videos like this accidentally work out perfectly at demonstrating the information. Like, Sabrina is the one who's doing the heavy research, figuring out all of the factors that professionals take into account, and then Melissa and Taha intuitively come up with working solutions to problems that they want to solve that are perfectly aligned with what Sabrina's talking about. It makes the information seem a lot more practical.
I also love how Sabrina, despite being the one who's done all the research, is the one with the most impractical solution. In that she had a design that doesn't work and that she used an egg that I would definitely never eat with Spam for breakfast.

[ScottCalvinsClause]

Honestly, the most waste in packaging I've experienced is from poor practices. I recently recieved 12 cones of yarn in a box that could fit my whole coffee table. That is way too much box. The reason amazon does that is because it's too expensive to have every size box on hand and pay someone to fit the product in nicely into the appropriate box. So the solution is, Jeff make smaller margins and pay more workers to do a better job. He already hobbled the local market, so buying local is a rapidly dieing option. He needs to fix the problem that he created.

[cheezyasf]

It feels weird that Answer in Progress has been posting videos every week cuz I've used with them posting every month 😭

[eolill]

We did the egg drop experiment in school (didn't we all?). We dropped from 3 stories up. The simplest way to keep the egg from breaking was to suspend it inside a small box using e.g. a sock. The stretchy sock will allow it to wobble around inside without touching the walls with enough force to break.

[drewthedweeeb]

I was hoping that if bubblewrap disappeared in my lifetime, it would be because we found something much more sustainable. Although I'll miss bubblewrap, I'm excited for the changing times!

[chelseashurmantine]

I used to work at a company called imperfect foods that was a cardboard box filled with groceries and had ice packs and bubble wrap/ foil, and customers could leave their packaging outside on their delivery day, so I’d deliver their new box, and then grab the old packaging. We’d recycle the bubble into paper towel holders or whatever they do with it, and they’d sanitize the ice packs and reuse them. Boxes we just put into recycling

[rosedruid]

A friends new internet equipment came with the packing paper that was covered in colouring book images AND contained a small package of golf sized pencil crayons. It delighted her.

[lemoncakeslemonade]

Melissa having infinite pasta is such great continuity

[ItzMiKeKirbY]

Melissa’s continuity from video to video is unmatched.

[zentouro]

i get unreasonably excited for the shredded cardboard/paper packaging because the worms in my worm farm go WILD for those. i never have happier worms then when i get the fancy shampoo that ships with that stuff.

[annarchydeclutteranddesign]

The real issue is the ludicrously large cardboard boxes in relation to the item inside it - leading to excessive packing inside material. The right box for each box would really help. Cardboard boxes are biodegradable, after all. And scrunched up paper as packing inside would also be biodegradable.