Overpackaging is part and parcel
of a consumerist society
Here’s a sobering statistic: 99% of what we purchase ends
up in landfill within 6 months. A good (?) portion of that waste
is packaging. One silver lining of our current bleak economy is
the realization that we need to change our wasteful ways. Corporate
leaders are starting to acknowledge that they cannot afford the
combined material, transportation and environmental costs that
result from overpackaging their products. Nor can their brands
afford the negative press tied to excessive packaging.
We can design our way out of the status
quo by bringing innovation to industry. Inspirational examples
abound: lightweighting of plastic water bottles, replacing Styrofoam
cushioning with molded pulp and concentrating liquid detergents
to fit downsized bottles to name a few. Furthermore, consumers
are hungry for healthier products and non-toxic packaging. Clorox
has been hugely successful with their Green Works line of cleaners.
HP was able to reduce the packaging for their Pavilion notebook
computer by 97% by selling it in an attractive, protective messenger
bag made from recycled materials instead of a disposable cardboard
box. Apple, Microsoft, Ikea, and many others have eliminated poisonous
PVC in their products and packaging.
Score one for the Scorecard
Change is hard. Humans are wired to resist it. When former CEO
Lee Scott announced that Walmart was introducing software to gauge
the comparative sustainability of vendors’ packaging –
and that they would be held responsible for a 5% reduction by
2013 in order to secure a place on their shelves – the market‘s
first reaction was panic. How do we compile the information to
fill this out? What is “cube utilitzation”? Why does
innovation only account for 5% of the score? (Admittedly, that
was Ken’s question.)
Areas of sustainable packaging expertise:
• Cradle to Cradle principles and methodologies
• EPA’s Design for Environment (DfE) protocol
• Walmart Scorecard
• Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) guidelines
• Reusable Packaging Association (RPA) best practices
• Structural solutions
• Materials recommendations and sourcing
• Prototyping
• Certified independent testing
• Manufacturer interface and management |
