when it comes to sustainability, &ldquoatrocious&rdquo overpackaging has some u.s. consumers revolting because of its wastefulness but they also get quite creative in finding other ways to reuse empty packages.in our exclusive video series in partnership with watch me think usa, we asked american shoppers to share their feelings on sustainability, reusability and waste&mdashand how this impacts the products and packages they buy. the video debuted at sustpack 2015 mar. 31apr. 2 orlando, fl, where speaker cara cosentino, u.s. thinker manager and client counselor at watch me think, revealed these consumer insights to receptive conference attendees.when it comes to reusability, many thinkers recognized glass packages as a great item to reuse. plastic containers were often frowned upon, but some people still found ways to give them a second life.one woman pointed to her stash of reusable containers, saying, &ldquoyou can see all these mason jars and glass jars that i&rsquom using. i repurpose glass a lot.&rdquo&ldquoi will get the glass jars for onthego because i can reuse these in so many different ways in our craft room and in the kitchen,&rdquo says one mom.&ldquowhen i&rsquom at the store, i try to buy in bulk a lot,&rdquo says another woman. &ldquoso i&rsquoll buy a big huge bag of rice, and separate it and put it in jars.&rdquo&ldquoi buy meat in containers like this a reclosable plastic tub solely because i can reuse it for leftovers or my kids&rsquo lunches,&rdquo says this mom, &ldquoand that reduces our footprint.&rdquobut the ladies get a little animated when asked about wasteful packaging.&ldquoabove and beyond, toys the waste that comes when you buy a toy&rdquo says one mom. &ldquoyou have this tiny little action figure, this massive amount of wasted packaging. so i would purposefully buy a toy that minimalized the packaging because it&rsquos just atrocious.&rdquo&ldquoi wish i could say i don&rsquot buy things if they seem wasteful. i think if i didn&rsquot like the price and the convenience of these apples, i wouldn&rsquot buy them because there&rsquos so much fricking plastic that i&rsquom buying that it bums me out,&rdquo says this woman, holding up a 12pack thermoformed clamshell.another female consumer holds up a carton and says, &ldquoi bought some ibuprofen at the store the other day. i don&rsquot understand why you need this box here. why can&rsquot i just buy this the bottle that seems like total waste to me.&rdquowatch the fiveminute video above to see what else these thinkers say about reusability and waste, as well as what sustainable packaging means to them.also, click here to read what kelly lahvic, research and outreach associate for the sustainable packaging coalition, thought of the consumer insights from this watch me think video after seeing it at the sustpack 2015 conference. 
