modeller:
I purchased an Arduino prototype board at Radio Shack yesterday, and was shocked at the amount of packaging that was used for a small board. Please see attachment. I's a little ridiculous to use that much paper product for a tiny little board. They need to re-think their packaging strategy in light of the environment.
Going back to your original suggestion, and the follow-up that the boxes will be packed together into a larger box, what is wrong, exactly, with using paper? With no packaging at all the board would bang against each other and get damaged (inside the larger box) or might rub against the cushioning pellets and generate static.
I'm always impressed when a company uses paper or cardboard to package stuff rather than plastic, because paper is readily recyclable.
What is your suggested alternative, exactly? Remember, packaged like it is you can remove your 100 items (or whatever number they ship in) from the shipping box and put them on the shelf. The package is protective, plus a point-of-sale attractive package.
As for the forum, this is a help-the-end-user forum, moderated by volunteers. To say nothing of contributed to by volunteers.
If you have a suggestion that you think is really worthwhile, write directly to the Arduino administrators, whose addresses are on the main page.
This particular part of the forum could be regarded as a place to bounce ideas around, like yours. You have yet to make a convincing argument for the alternative. What is your alternative, again? If a sensible idea was agreed upon that was attractive, environmentally friendly, kept the boards secure, and no more expensive than the current one, no doubt it could be communicated to the "Arduino bosses".
Oh a Global Mod!
Maybe he can tell us why the Administration team doesn't care to answer posts in the board "Website and Forum"?
How would we know? Although if they looked at the tone you are taking in this thread, I think that might just answer your question for yourself.