Back in 2008, Amazon announced its “Frustration-Free Packaging” initiative, working with nineteen manufacturers, including Fischer-Price, Mattel, Microsoft and Transcend, to make product packaging easier to get into so the whole buying-and-receiving process is less annoying.

The phrase “first world problems” comes to mind, but even still, who doesn’t want opening a new toy to be as easy as possible?

The following year, Amazon launched the Frustration-Free Packaging certification program aimed at convincing more manufacturers to participate. Apparently it worked.

The company announced this morning that it now offers 200,000 items that are delivered in “smaller, easy-to-open, recyclable cardboard boxes that reduce the overall amount of packaging used while still protecting what’s inside”.

Others now participating include Unilever, Seventh Generation, Belkin, Victorinox Swiss Army and Logitech, to name a few.

“We’ve all experienced the frustration of trying to remove a product from nearly impenetrable packaging like plastic clamshell cases and products bound by dozens of wire ties,” said CEO Jeff Bezos. “We’ve worked with both manufacturers and customers to design Frustration-Free Packaging that is easy-to-open, protects the product and reduces waste. We now have more than 2,000 manufacturers in the program.”

As a result of the program, Amazon says it has eliminated waste to the tune of 58.9 million square feet of cardboard, 24.7 million pounds of packaging, and 14.5 million cubic feet of box size.

Amazon is encouraging other vendors to participate, and consumers can shop for certified frustration-free products at this destination.

Image: Amazon (YouTube)