Label By Usable Volume

A thought experiment from the rationalist community forum LessWrong is gaining traction, proposing a fundamental shift in consumer packaging law. The post, titled 'Label By Usable Volume' by user jefftk, argues that product labels should state the amount a consumer can reasonably extract, not the total volume inside the container. This idea was sparked by a real-world lawsuit against L'Oreal, where the cosmetics giant was selling lotion in containers that dispensed as little as 43% of the advertised contents. Critically, L'Oreal won the case because current law only requires labeling of the amount *in* the container, creating a misalignment between what consumers pay for and what they can actually use.

The proposal aims to correct this incentive problem. If manufacturers were forced to label based on 'usable volume,' they might redesign packaging to be more efficient—like using wide-mouth jars instead of narrow squeeze bottles—or transparently charge more for convenient but wasteful designs. The author notes that this principle is already applied in one high-stakes domain: medicine. Because dosing accuracy is critical, regulations require accounting for dispensing losses. The post asks why this logic of 'pay for what you can use' shouldn't be extended to the entire consumer economy, potentially driving innovation in packaging and creating fairer markets.