Well, about time. Somebody with a degree of sense (or a Degree in sense?) has decided that enough is enough: those nasty, hard-plastic cases (clamshells to those in manufacturing/retail) that encase your flash cards with carbonite-like security are on the way out. So too are the plastic-coated wire ties that restrain inanimate toys and waste so much of your kids’ Birthdays and Christmas mornings. Reduced anger levels and good eco-karma all in one. So who is the packaging white knight?

Good ol’ Amazon, along with major manufacturers including Fisher-Price, Mattel, Microsoft and Trancend, is launching this initiative. Starting in the US with immediate effect across 19 products, there are plans to roll out the programmes Internationally. Personally I can’t wait for the changes to appear on UK shelves and have already put my bolt-cutters on eBay.