Sssssssssss! The advent of bubble wrap that doesn't pop
Some things we assume are permanent.
The color of grass, for example. Or the venality of politicians.
Yet one day, all grass will be brown and all politicians will be rational, thoughtful robots. And all bubble wrap won't pop.
I posit this desperate scenario because The Wall Street Journal tells me that the people who make bubble wrap -- a company called Sealed Air -- have another version, one that doesn't pop at all.
While you and your children weep, you'll imagine this has something to do with efficiency.
Sealed Air's Ken Aurichio told me that the company has actually been using the pop-free technology for 12 years. It's sold in flat sheets that take up one-fiftieth of the space of inflated bubble wrap. The shipper then pumps up the sheets with a custom-made device. It's just like an air pillow you might buy online.
In the case of this bubble wrap, the air is simply passed from one bubble to the next.
In essence, the more you shop online, the more likely it is that your life will become pop-less.Aurichio told me: "As online retail grows, there's a greater demand for this sort of faster, more sustainable packaging."
But what about bubble wrap that pops? Doesn't Sealed Air realize just how many hours of endless, mindless pleasure people get from it?
Aurichio doesn't want to pop anyone's bubble: "Bubble wrap that pops will still exist in everyone's lifetime."
