Green vs. Greener: Since When are Cardboard Boxes Not "Green"

The other day, one of my long time and valued vendors, came to me about a old product
that is used in international markets, for moving. Simply, using a hard plastic tote, with flaps
to move your goods, and the (dumb) argument goes like this:

If you need maybe 100 cartons to move your full 3 bedroom house and its contents (books, clothes, linen, dishes, small appliances, pots and pans, cleaning materials, toys, games, tools,
etc) then you can move these items for less than half the cost of what you would pay for the
cardboard boxes....cause we will only provide you with 20 of these plastic tubs......."

HERE IS THE CATCH: YOU HAVE TO PACK THEM, THEN MOVE THEM TO YOUR NEW
HOME (BEFORE THE MOVER COMES) AND THEN ULOAD THEM AT YOUR NEW HOME
AND UNPACK THEM AND THEN RELOAD THEM INTO YOUR CAR ONCE EMPTIED AND REPEAT THIS PROCESS 5 TIMES..........Here are some relevant questions:
1) What is you live 20 miles away from your new home? So you will drive another
few hundred miles back and forth in order to pack and move this way;
2) What is I am moving more than a few miles, like to another state? So you have to
either not use these plastic crates, as if you do not return them in a week, you will be
charged for another rental period, thereby negating the initially low rental rate.
Further, if you do not timely return the tubs timely, they charge you 10 times
the rental rate as you would have paid for a cardboard box;
3) What do you do when you have a tall item, or one that will not fit in the one size
fits all plastic tub? Cardboard boxes can easily be reshaped and there are 1200
standard sizes available in all retail markets in the US. In addition, there are a
standard set of moving cartons, established with military and technical standards,
which are SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR MOVING. There is much thought
and over 100 years of cumulative know how that goes into the sizes, shapes and
strength of moving boxes. Suffice it to say that there is not one size carton or container
that will allow for the safe packaging of all of your household items into a one size
plastic tote;
4) What is I do not have a car, or if my car will not hold that many of these plastic tubs?
More fuel, more time and less productivity. Where is the savings on your time, your
fuel and your back?
5) What if you cannot get into your new apartment or your new home until a certain
date and you cannot gain access to your new place prior to your actual move date?
Most people cannot afford to pay rent on two places while they reuse their packaging
devices in order to move. The cost saving suggestion is disingenuous to people who
are not wealthy, as most people can't pay for the luxury of moving locally over 2
or 3 weeks.

I could go on, but as you can see, the protagonists of this moronic play is that by using their
products (which are petroleum based....here that National Resources Defense Council) will save trees. No one mentions that today's American Made Cardboard boxes are made with no less
than 50% post consumer recycled product. These plastic tote are made overseas (guess where)
and without any recycled materials.

It is pretty sad to screw a customer and not be honest about it, as nowhere in the literature
does it say that if you want to save money, you need to work 5 times as hard and have the luxury of having 2 extra weeks to casually move across town. If that were true, we would not
have as many storage facilities in our major metropolitan areas, as we do.

While it is true that owning these totes can be a good business as some people keep them
as most people I know cannot completely unpack in two weeks after their move. But if you do
not return them, they keep charging you for the privilege.

I think that reusing something is not a bad thing, and that is why we always recycle, but to claim
wrongly that a product is better and then not tell the truth, is not only wicked, but wrong.
What bothers me is that no one wants, to help a customer out by explaining the process to them,
making them understand their true options. I have no idea why and I cannot explain it, either,
but when my box vendor starts to think that maybe this idea holds water, I thinking I better take some more swimming lessons, as the rip tides must really be bad for him to think this way.
When we we all learn?