Amazon takes action over its packaging problem by vowing to stop delivering little items in massive boxes
Celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has investigated the company as part of his War on Waste
BUYING online is supposed to take the hassle out of shopping, but anyone who's spent an hour trying to stuff acres of cardboard into bin bags might argue that's not always the case.
One of the repeat offenders has to be Amazon, which is famed for sending minuscule items in MASSIVE boxes.
Of course this means there are a lot of hilarious pictures on Twitter, but it's really not the best for the environment.
It seems Amazon has taken the widespread criticism over its packaging techniques on board, as the company is now trialling a new system.
Box on Demand will apparently mean everything is delivered in a box which is the right size. So it's bye bye to lipsticks arriving in about 30ft of parcel paper then.
"Amazon definitely need to resolve their packaging because there are clearly examples where they are over-packaging," Richard McIlwain, of Keep Britain Tidy, said of the new plan.
"They are the biggest online retailer, therefore anything they can do to tackle over-packaging should be congratulated.
"But they are not the only ones, let's see others follow suit."
It's not completely good news though, because it's likely the new process will take a while to kick in.
At the moment it's being piloted, and if all goes to plan it could be in place across Europe within the next year.
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Amazon has been taking steps to solve its so-called 'cardboard crisis' for years.
In 2008 it got involved with the Frustration-Free Packaging initiative, which was supposed to cut down the amount of paper and card things were delivered in.
At the moment it uses a system called CubiScan, which should be able to tell the perfect-sized box for anything that's bought from the site.
Box on Demand has more sizes available though, so there's more chance you actually will get the right packaging.
Amazon's plan is revealed on upcoming TV show War on Waste, which is fronted by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
In an episode due to air on BBC One on Thursday July 28, Hugh tackles the issue of excess packaging at Amazon.
He visits a distribution centre and watched as boxes were picked for items - even showing that a smaller one could have been selected at one point.
Although Amazon's global head of sustainability, Kara Hurst, claims the company usually gets things right to begin with, she admits things could be improved after seeing some of the pictures customers have posted online.
"Kara tells me that Box on Demand makes packaging to the specific dimensions of a product, meaning less wasted cardboard and fewer vehicles needed to make deliveries. Sounds great," Hugh later says.