Dear friends,

I'd like to introduce an issue, a concern that I think you may have

already experienced and with which you may identify: the need for

easy-open packaging-----for us, the disabled and the elderly, including the

disabled elderly. While I am a mobile disabled 50-something woman, my hand-strength

and hand-coordination limitations heightened my awareness of the lack of

easy-opening packaging for supermarket and drugstore products. No doubt you have

experienced similar emotions that surface when faced with the struggle of opening a box

of cereal, for example,which, by the time you've reached the cereal, the entire box looks like

something your dog ( or mine, for sure) could have torn equally as well.

Two years ago, I searched the Internet for a packaging site, only to

discover this powerful industry's weekly newsletter available at no

cost via email. It's the official source for everything you wanted to know

about packaging and were afraid to ask. In early November (2000), I noticed a new

byline called ShelfPresence written by Greg Erickson whose sole focus is to assess

and critique new consumer supermarket and drugstore products, particularly

for their easy-open qualities. His objectivity and subtle humor motivated me

to send him an email about my concern. In his timely response, he needed

permission to publish my email in the newsletter's next issue, which was

November 21. Of course, I agreed !

I hope you will view this as the first step in the quest to apprise the

packaging industry of their gross oversight. Advocacy can be effective if those involved are as passionate

about this issue as I am.

Thanks for listening. To read the ShelfPresence article, click here:

http://www.packagingnetwork.com/read/sp20001217/368853

Diana Schwartz

Long Island, New York

Diana_RRI@email.msn.com

SHELF PRESENCE (Nov. 21): Rethink, retest, rework - or else

11/21/2000

By Greg Erickson

Readers of my twice-monthly column in this space are likely familiar with - maybe annoyed by - my continued harping on one topic more than any other: convenience, or ease of use. I have gone so far as to say that I could foresee a day when elderly and/or disabled consumers begin as a group picketing retailers who sell packages that are hard to open and close. I used to think that was an exaggeration, but now I'm not so sure.

An unsolicited e-mail from a stranger makes me wonder whether the problems caused by poorly designed or poorly converted packaging are far bigger than I had imagined up to now.

As you read the following, please keep in mind that (a) a woman's hand strength, all other things being equal, is half that of a man's, (b) "purchase," or gripping strength, declines rapidly as we age beyond 20, and (c) when you add in disabilities or chronic illnesses such as arthritis ... well, a growing set of pet-peeves surrounding hard-to-handle packaging seems like a social movement in the making.

Here's the e-mail.

Dear Mr. Erickson:

I have contacted several people in the packaging industry regarding the lack of consumer supermarket and drugstore easy-open packaging for disabled people like me whose hand strength and coordination make most obviously easy-to-open packages for normal people difficult for me and those like me. Mentadent toothpaste employs a serrated paper strip that is an elegant design. Milk cartons could be optimized if they incorporated a cap for pouring as in the Tropicana orange-juice half-gallon containers.

Every day, I resort to using a knife or other clumsy object to open boxes that contain cereal, rice or pasta, when a design like a tear-off strip could make the whole process easier. I have to ask a family member to twist open jars of tomato sauce, applesauce and the like, and uncap plastic fruit juice bottles, as only a few examples. My condition is not as severe as it is with the disabled elderly.

It is a question of dignity and pride that is compromised for the disabled. Our society is slowly accommodating the needs of the disabled ... by providing designated parking spaces and ramps for entering doctors' offices, restaurants and shopping centers. With the packaging industry's enormous staff and affiliate organizations, and its research on the cutting edge in addition to their prestigious position impacting the whole of society, how does the issue of disability escape them as an issue that should be considered? If that isn't compelling enough, I know so many normal people who also find the packaging of most consumer products in supermarkets and drugstores also inconvenient and in need of revamping.

My focus is narrow, in that I am not addressing packaging for items like home appliances or electronic products that are obviously packaged in heavy cartons.

I would appreciate your thoughtful insights. Reading your 'Shelf Presence' articles on PackagingNetwork.com led me to believe that you give considerable review and analysis to what affects consumers as real people like you and me.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Diana Schwartz

Long Island, New York

Me again: As I've said to the point of sounding like a broken record (and there's an expression that dates me), the U.S. population is aging. Packaging that works fine only for healthy male teenage bodybuilders isn't going to cut it anymore.

Rethink, retest, rework. Or else.

Oh yes, if any of you would like to contact Ms. Schwartz with an apology for having neglected people like her, send your message to me. I'll pass it on straightaway.

About the Author: Greg Erickson is director of communications for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (Washington, D.C.). He formerly served as director of communications for the Institute of Packaging Professionals, was editor-in-chief of Packaging magazine and publisher of the international newsletter ShelfPresence. A keen observer of trends in consumer-product marketing as they relate to packaging, Erickson has written for leading magazines including BrandWeek, Marketing News and New Product News. His views have been broadcast nationwide on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," and published in Inc. magazine as well as in USA Today. He continues to write and consult on current events in package design, consumer research and product merchandising. Reach Greg directly at ShelfPresence@usa.net.

disABLEdperson.com would like to thank Ms. Schwartz for bringing this important issue to our attention. As a representative of the disabled community, we will follow up with Ms. Schwartz on this important matter.