Oh I want change and soon as well. But I still think people want to see what they are buying. Stores want to avoid theft and damage. Somewhere in all this mix both parties need to reach a common ground and what that is I personally don't know. Fully recyclable resilient materials (and transparent if needed) are certainly a good way to go but it needs people power to drive the change.
I would guess that nearly every time people buy something in a package that obscures the product they want to see what it looks like so if the sample of the product is on display that often meets their need, but if it isn't then many open the packaging or they take a risk and buy unseen (I would imagine not often), or they get a staff member, if one can be found, to open a product so they can see it. Would you buy beans in a sealed brown paper bag or would you prefer to see the product? I would happily put loose beans in a brown/white/any colour paper bag if they were available but I would certainly be very reticent to buy a sealed opaque bag of beans.
When we purchase an item we use our eyes, our touch, our smell, and our hearing, all to varying degrees depending on the item. If we don't have the ability to make use of these senses when inspecting items, and more particularly our sight, we become hesitant because those senses are what we rely on to make judgements on whether an item suits our need or is good. So I don't know if it is mostly only young marketers that are driving this but rather it may be the human need to inspect.
