Green Packaging
Many consumers prefer the companies they deal with to have strong environmental standards and do their part to reduce plastics and minimise landfill rubbish.
For decades, the wasteful use of plastic packaging has contributed to mountains of landfill, giving off harmful gases into our atmosphere. As scientists warn us more and more about global warming, we, as business owners, can all do our part to reduce the amount of waste we create.
Due to consumer demand and corporate social responsibility, there is now a good range of not just compostable, but also biodegradable packaging products available that still protect your value products while in transit.
Internal Packaging
Internal packaging has always been the hardest to replace with a sustainable, biodegradable bubble wrap, filler packing nuts and foam inserts. However this has all changed now and products like ‘wood wool’ and mushroom mycelium are a viable alternative to plastics and foams.
Some of your internal package products can even be generated in-house using a cardboard recycling machine. Cardboard is fed into the machine one side and protective, packaging material comes out the other side.
Bubble-wrap is also readily available in a biodegradable option.
Oxo-B Eco Bubble is just one example.
Read more here.
Tape
Your packing tape can now also be biodegradable.
External Packaging
Plain cardboard boxes and paper will always be biodegradable and a great option. The reality is, at least some part of your cartons is already made up in part, if not all, from recycled paper. The rest is sourced for sustainable growth forests.
Another important element to consider when designing your packaging is: can the packaging be repurposed by the receiver? Could you create an incentive program that would encourage the receiver to return packaging?
To Compost or Not to Compost?
When researching composting options there are a few things to beware of. One of the major ones is; there is a big difference between home-compostable and commercially-compostable. Huge. If the packaging products you’re looking into states they are biodegradable, they should then break down and return to the earth within 6 months. Some products are compostable but only in the home composter, which is ideal because it’s not going to landfill but remember, not everyone you ship to will have a home composter.
We recommend Hero Packaging; they have a great range of completely biodegradable satchels and bubble-wrapped lined satchels that are fully biodegradable along with a range of other packaging supplies. And as an added bonus, all their profits go to the Rural Fire Service.
You can even source a biodegradable shrink-wrap for your pallet shipments.
Let’s do this!
Really, we have no excuse for not doing our part to protect our environment and our planet. Environmentally-friendly packaging can also be a great marketing tool that many buyers will happily pay a little more for. Think do-good toilet paper brand, Who Gives A Crap.