Since cereal is already so expensive, why not discard the box (with it's inane 'games' and over-the-top advertising for yet more cereal) and package the cereal inside a recyclable plastic (or other "safe" material) toy.

Imagine a Pokemon filled with Fruit Loops, a Robot filled with Cheerio's, or Scooby-Doo filled with Boo-Berry (do they even make Boo-Berry anymore?).

The cereal companies are already in bed with Disney, Warner, et al. This way they can market movies, books, and video games directly to the end user. Once the hoopla is over, take your plastic friend to the local recycling center.
-- zaphod12, Nov 01 2001

Way to use your heads [zaphod12].
-- phoenix, Nov 01 2001


Or possibly stop wasting all their money on stupid novelties, slogans and advertising, and give us cheaper cereal. (And no, generic cereal does not taste as nice as big brands.)
-- pottedstu, Nov 01 2001


How would a plastic container (which would eventually get thrown out when the child decides he/she hates Pokémon next week) be more environmentally friendly than the cardboard box the cereal already comes in? Why not just get rid of the plastic bag inside the box?
-- mighty_cheese, Nov 02 2001


[pottedstu] Quaker makes cereals that they distribute in simple plastic bags. I have only tried the frosted shredded wheat, but It's as good as Kellogg's or Post's.
-- mwburden, Nov 02 2001


And face it, not many parents are going to drag little robot corpses to recycling centers. Also, as was mentioned, it'd be a hassle to shelve these things. Oh, and yes, [Zaphod], they still have Boo Berry.
-- eat the damn crayon, Nov 03 2001


Well, I didn't mention this before, but the toy cereal containers would of course become valuable collector's items and/or yard sale junk.

The cardboard is already taking up landfill space, cheese, and more people will recycle plastice than carboard--I think.

Yes, queke, the toys will be a little thicker than boxes, but should conform to proven size standards, but I don't want to underestimate the creativity of greedy corporate cereal czar bastards.

Also, the toy has a pop-up top that lets you dispense the yummies and reseal the freshness. With cardboard and plastic bags gone the package shouldn't cost too much more than it does now--it not like it's ever going to get cheaper.

Thanks for the input, all--I'm off to see General Mills!
-- zaphod12, Nov 06 2001


I would like to believe that you are correct, more people might recycle plastic over cardboard. However, given that people are lazy bastards and won't recycle much of anything, I'd prefer to have cardboard filling my landfill space. At least the cardboard will break down before my kids do.
-- mighty_cheese, Jan 06 2002


I think the best idea would be to make some kind of plastic resealable container(such as a jar etc) in the form of whatever character - Pokemons (sp?) seem to be the default choice.

If you can make them from recycled plastic, collectable and of sufficient quality, people will hang onto them.

Personally, I think the best option is to be able to buy breakfast cereal loose from one of those big bulk food tubs they have at supermarkets. No more recycling anything, except perhaps if you bring in a tupperware container next week. Perhaps the supermarkets could have some kind of discount for bringing your own container?
-- gargarax, Jan 07 2002


Then you end up with stale cereal that people's kids have been hiding boogers in and eating all the marshmallows. No thanks...
-- StarChaser, Jan 07 2002


Well if your still reading,...

Bake a huge crusty baguette filled with cerial. I can see the frenchmen now, riding their bikes home. But then how do we package the milk?
-- Monster, Feb 22 2003


Hell yes Zaphod they still make Boo Berry. At least it's on the shelves at Reasor's in Oklahoma. Never really looked around for it when I am out of town though. Sometimes they even have Franken Berry.
-- STUpidIDIOT, Jul 23 2004


NO you are all missing what I'm sure zaphod12's point is. The box IS a robot, therefore it can go to the recycling center itself when you are done eating and playing.
-- joeforker, Jul 23 2004


In Canada, about 70 years ago, I have been told that Puffed wheat used to be offered to the public as a filler for womens' Kitchen Aprons. Thereby, was created a product with Virually no nutrition (the puffed wheat and not the apron) and questionable hygienic standards!
-- blueswag, Jul 25 2004



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