Don't Make Things Harder

Trawling through my Twitter feed today I found an environmental intervention by McDonalds aiming to nudge people into disposing of litter more thoughtfully.

At least I think that’s what it’s aiming to achieve. Honestly I have no idea. Judge for yourself: the McDonald’s Bag Tray.

A few things stood out to me immediately.

For those of us who do indulge in takeaway, we are likely to be in one of two situations when we consume it. Either we will have access to a plate or flat surface of some sort, or we won’t, in which case we use the bag itself as a vessel.

In which case, what is actually wrong with a regular paper bag? In each instance, we are likely to use the bag itself as a receptacle for burger wrappers, chip boxes, and leftover food provided we don’t have access to a plate to scrape it off of.

This is because the regular paper bag has both a primary function in transporting food and a secondary function in pooling rubbish and leftovers together to make it more convenient upon disposal.

The Bag Tray retains the primary function of the regular paper bag, but the second the tab is pulled off and it instead becomes a tray, the secondary function is all but eliminated.

You’re telling me I now have to precariously balance a half-eaten mayo-drenched bun along with a burger wrapper, chip box, ice-soaked styrofoam cup, and the rest of the fucking bag I mutilated on this one flimsy little tray while carrying it to the nearest bin without upending it all over my drunk friend?

How in Christ is that anymore convenient than balling everything up in a regular paper bag? The Bag Tray is inadvertently making it harder for people to dispose of rubbish responsibly.

Purely anecdotal: but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone eating McDonald’s who hasn’t balled all their rubbish up in the bag before tossing it. It’s simply the most effective method of disposal.

The Bag Tray nudge is a good example of an innovative idea that was never really needed in the first place, and will likely only become an inconvenience. In fact, I would love to see some future research on the matter, because I guarantee that most of these things will still be in one piece when they end up in the trash.

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

a.ce