on thursday, amazon announced that its frustrationfree packaging initiative, the retailer&rsquos effort to liberate products from hermetically sealed clamshell cases and plasticcoated steelwire ties, now offers over 200,000 items, up from 19 when the initiative first launched five years ago.to try and alleviate the frustration many people experience when opening toys and electronics, amazon is working with leading manufacturers to deliver products inside smaller, easytoopen, recyclable cardboard boxes that reduce the overall amount of packaging used while still protecting what&rsquos inside. &ldquowe&rsquove all experienced the frustration of trying to remove a product from nearly impenetrable packaging like plastic clamshell cases and products bound by dozens of wire ties,&rdquo said jeff bezos, founder and ceo of amazon.com. &ldquowe&rsquove worked with both manufacturers and customers to design frustrationfree packaging that is easytoopen, protects the product and reduces waste. we now have more than 2,000 manufacturers in the program.&rdquolaunched in 2008 with 19 products, participation in the initiative has grown from 4 to over 2,000 manufacturers, including fisherprice, mattel, unilever, seventh generation, belkin, victorinox swiss army, logitech and many more. to date, amazon has shipped over 75 million frustrationfree items to 175 countries.frustrationfree packaging also reduces waste for customers. so far, the initiative haseliminated 58.9 million square feet of cardboardremoved 24.7 million pounds of packagingreduced box sizes by 14.5 million cubic feetamazon customers have helped guide the program with their ratings and feedback on product packaging. this advice has been the driving force behind hundreds of packaging improvements each year. here&rsquos what customers are saying about frustrationfree packaging&ldquoamazon, if i could, i would seriously make out with you right now. yes, i said it.&rdquo&ldquothe old frustrationfull packaging took scissors and blood and sweat to open. the new way is perfect pull cardboard tab, open envelope, memory card in hand.&rdquo&ldquoi am a huge fan of amazon frustrationfree packaging&hellipthank you for offering packaging that allows me to access my purchases without endangering myself.&rdquo&ldquothis was the best packaged item i&39ve ever received from amazon. no extra box, no frills. just stick the sticker on the box and go. way to be sustainable, folks&rdquovendors interested in participating in the frustrationfree packaging initiative can learn more at amazon&rsquos vendor central.earlier this week, bezos unveiled to charlie rose on &ldquo60 minutes&rdquo the company&rsquos latest advancement in customer convenience &mdash amazon prime air, a new shipping option that bezos said in the next few years will offer package delivery by tiny, unmanned drones that bezos called "octocopters" within 30 minutes of order placement. 
