Dell Responds to Excessive Packaging Claims

Following up on a story we covered on excessive packaging from Dell, the company has posted a response and outlined steps they are taking to address the issue. 

The way Dell choose to respond to this issue is interesting.  As soon as the stories began appearing on various blogs including this one, a representative from Dell was posting comments indicating they were concerned and looking into the matter.  The company also provided some information on what happened and assured readers they would follow up.

Just over two weeks after the story broke Dell did follow up as they promised.  The company posted yesterday on their Direct2Dell blog.  Todd Dwyer, Dell's Community Liaison - Environment explains in the posting how the company is concerned about the excessive packaging issue and taking steps to insure it will not happen again.

Dell's public response is admirable.  Contrast it to the approach other companies we've covered recently have taken, namely Whole Foods and Target who both opted not to provide information on issues.

Dwyer writes:

It's no secret that Dell aims to be the greenest technology company in the world. But on Earth Day last week, sites like The Consumerist, Gizmodo, and other blogs showed us that there's still more work for us to do.

Shortly after we read those posts, we had a team on the road to Dallas to meet with the vendor that shipped this flash drive to see how we can improve the process. End result, there's some easy fixes and some longer-term issues for us to address. Here's an outline:

* Immediate: Directive to use envelopes for small items such as these.

* Short term: Use of smaller boxes. We have requested an optimization analysis of product volume to box size.

* Short term: Implementation of Dell-defined volumetric metrics on void space in the package to be incorporated into our periodic vendor business reviews.

While third party items such as these make up a very small portion of our overall shipping volume, folks here know we need to fix it. Our sincere gratitude goes out to everyone who pointed this irregularity out to us. We hope that all of you will continue to provide feedback like this on any of our green-focused Direct2Dell posts, or if you have ideas about ways we can make improvements, please share them in the Environment section on IdeaStorm.

via Direct2Dell

Dell Latest Company Featured with Packaging Gaffe on The Consumerist

Readers of the popular web site The Consumerist know excessive packaging can be problem.  The site regularly runs stories based on reports from readers who order a product online and receive the item with excessive packaging.

The latest story features a reader who ordered a Kingston 2gb USB flash drive.  The drive arrived promptly from Dell in a box that seemed rather large for the item. 

From The Consumerist: "From the looks of David's package, Dell isn't close to honoring its promise to switch to alternative packaging within the next two months. This obscenely large box contained nothing more than a 2GB flash drive."

The fact consumers are reacting in a negative fashion to excessive shipping packaging is important to note.  It serves as an indicator as to how the issue of excessiveness is resonating with consumers.  Is it the fact that consumers react only in instances of egregious over packaging or are people becoming more and more aware of packaging and excessiveness in general?

Dell isn't alone, Amazon.com is another company whose excessive packaging issues are often featured on the Consumerist.

Ireland Exceeds Packaging Recycling Targets

According to published reports Ireland has far exceeded EU targets for the recycling of packaging waste. 

Tony Killeen, Minister of State at the Environment Department told attendees of the 2008 Repak Service Providers Conference, “The recycling of packaging waste is probably the leading Irish environmental success story.”

“For the past number of years, Ireland has consistently exceeded EU and national targets for recovery and recycling of this waste stream.”

Figures from the Irish Environmental Protection Agency show that in 2005, 64% of packaging waste was recovered against a target of 50%

Sustainable Packaging, the Housewares Show, and the 5 Stages of Grief

Sustainability – An Unwelcome Change?

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the sprawling Housewares Show at Chicago’s McCormick Place, where over 1,200 exhibitors showcased the best their companies and industry had to offer.  I took full advantage of the opportunity to conduct an informal “sustainability survey” as I visited each exhibitor’s booth. I inquired about their green objectives and initiatives, and the responses varied tremendously. I suspect that to some degree the exhibitors reflect the population as a whole.

As I listened to the varying comments on sustainability and packaging, I was reminded of the Kubler-Ross “Five Stages of Grief”, which famously describe our natural and very human resistance to change. The five distinct stages are: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. In my conversations, all five stages were clearly demonstrated as people reflected on how green is impacting their business.

Denial

I was very disappointed by the number of people who are still stuck in stage one and who really want to believe this environmental, sustainability thing is “going to blow over”. I am very sorry to admit that most of these people are of my generation. We “Boomers” may have lived and perhaps even led America through one of the most turbulent times in our history but we tend to not accept change easily or quickly. To be fair, many cited a litany of previous environmental fads that came went, so I can understand why expecting this green season to pass may appear more sensible than addressing it. But whether because of the drugs most of us consumed in the 60’s or simply reduced blood flow to the brain, some among the generation that stood for innovation, change, and social responsibility is now simply out of touch

Anger

I was very surprised to encounter some rudeness and even some hostility that went well beyond the “why me?” attitude that often accompanies this stage. I sincerely believe that these are business people who, unlike the group above, recognize the change but are simply unprepared to deal with it. It is a confusing topic with few clear answers, so some degree of confusion and frustration is understandable. The term, “shoot the messenger” came to mind as a few exhibitors tried to convince me that I was perpetuating the problem by bringing it up. They may be right but I gladly “take the bullet” if it means getting them past this counterproductive stage.

Bargaining

This by far is the most troublesome group, because they have already decided how to best “handle this problem” and have determined what they are willing and able to do to satisfy this consumer “whim”.  “As little as possible” appears to be their approach to what they see as an unavoidable issue they have to deal with. Many of the people are not fully committed and see only the cost, not the benefit that could potentially accrue to them and their company. Unfortunately, this is where half hearted measures and deceptive compromise are born and flourish.

Depression

This group of people hides behind the convenient excuse of “all my packaging comes from overseas and they make those decisions”. By avoiding that responsibility they can run but will never be able to hide from the inarguable fact that they are contributing to the problem, not the solution. I sincerely saw hints of remorse and sadness in people who know they are not doing the right thing and live in fear that eventually their “greenwashing” ways will be exposed by a growing public awareness.

Acceptance

Here is where the hope is for the industry, if not the planet. I spoke to numerous companies who are making solid commitments and decisions to use better, more earth friendly packaging materials and less of them. They are working toward more local, domestic sources of supply that will reduce the carbon footprint of the products they sell and are sincere in their efforts to implement cradle to cradle thinking and processes. These bright people have figured out what the giant CPG companies already have discovered -- going green may cost time and money initially but it pays huge dividends in the long run.

Sustainability is a Good Bet

The Housewares Show was impressive from every perspective. The bright lights, huge crowds, impressive displays, great food, excellent wine, and lovely models seemed more appropriate for an evening in Las Vegas than McCormick Place in Chicago on a cool spring day. Unlike Las Vegas though, where the odds are always in the favor of the house, sustainability is not at all a game of chance. There will most certainly be big winners and even bigger losers but everyone has an equal and achievable opportunity to come out on top. I look forward to helping the winners celebrate because if we achieve what has to be done and we protect our quickly dwindling resources, we all win.

Dennis Salazar is the president of Salazar Packaging, Inc., a certified MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) company specializing in packaging products, equipment and solutions. With over thirty years in the packaging industry, he is known for his tongue in cheek sense of humor as well as his sustainable packaging passion and expertise.   

To contact Dennis, please visit his web site: www.salazarpackaging.com

To read more articles by Dennis Salazar click here

FTC Modifying Green Marketing and Packaging Guidelines

The Federal Trade Commission recently announced that it is updating and revising green marketing and packaging guidelines. The last changes were made in 1998 and as you can imagine, much has changed. Certainly many more businesses are promoting varying degrees of environmental responsibility as a part of their manufacturing, design and packaging.

The FTC guidelines’ primary objective is to avoid deceptive marketing and packaging practices and some of the issues they plan on addressing include:

-Marketing carbon offsets and renewable energy certificates
-Claims such as environmentally friendly, sustainable, recyclable, recycled content, degradability, compostability
-The use of environmental seals and certifications

You can check out the current and soon to be updated guidelines at the FTC site.

As you will notice, current guidelines really don’t address many commonly used packaging claims that we associate with environmentally responsible practices such as sustainable, renewable, or eco-friendly.

The new FTC guidelines will come none too soon for many environmental advocates and responsible marketers given the recent report from TerraChoice Environmental Marketing showing that most green marketing claims are incorrect and guilty of at least one of the ‘Six Sins of Greenwashing’.

While it’s great to see so many businesses embracing environmental sustainability, it’s also important to provide clarity for both manufacturers and consumers by establishing guidelines and definitions of terminology so we can all evaluate for ourselves if products and packaging meet our expectations.

See related coverage on the FTC & Green Marketing

Seattle May Ban Foam Food Packaging

The Seattle-Post Intelligencer reported yesterday the city of Seattle is considering enacting a comprehensive ban on polystyrene foam packaging items commonly used in food packaging.  The proposed ban would also enact a twenty cent fee on both paper and plastic bags.

If passed the polystyrene foam ban would outlaw items including plates, trays, clamshells, cups, meat trays and egg cartons at stores and restaurants.  The ban would have a major impact on the grocery industry as well as fast food takeout packaging.

As Sustainable is Good reported last week companies like Murrays Chicken are already working with packaging suppliers to eliminate the use of foam trays in their fresh meat packaging.  Murrays is leading the way with their new packaging already available in stores in the Northeast.  The company no longer uses a foam tray in its packaging.

Sustainable is Good Launches New Products Site

Today is an exciting day as we are launching a new site under the Sustainable is Good name focused exclusively on greener more eco-friendly products.  The new site is Sustainable is Good Products. 

By expanding into a new products site it allows us to focus our original site Sustainable is Good on sustainable innovations in packaging, design, marketing and branding and focus the new site solely on greener more eco-friendly products.

Sustainable is Good has seen tremendous growth since it went live just over a year ago.  Both sites will feature the original in-depth content our readers expect and enjoy.  We've become known for providing relevant coverage and interviews with product manufacturers, designers and companies - that will continue!

Sustainable is Good Products features a familiar site format and just like the original site will offer comprehensive archives, search functionality and as it grows a wealth of information of interest to a wide range of consumers, professionals and others.

Wine Retailers and Manufacturers Seek Lighter Packaging

Wine industry retailers, suppliers and manufacturers held a forum organized by the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) in London to discuss problems with the limited supply of lightweight wine packaging.

Wine industry publication Decanter Magazine ran a piece on their web site on the forum which represented the first time the wine industry and its suppliers have come together in an organized industry forum to discuss the problem.

Decanter reported the forum focused on barriers to the introduction of lightweight bottles, supply and demand and levels of financial commitment to the issue by stake holders.

The WSTA's Kate Coleman told decanter.com various association members have approached the organization seeking more eco-friendly bottles.

While the forum was primarily focused on wine packaging solutions for the UK market it represents an important indicator of the priority eco-friendly packaging has with major wine manufacturers and suppliers.  The forum was attended by major wine producers and leading retailers.

Decanter reports no definitive solution was worked out at the meeting however all parties involved have agreed to make addressing the issue a top priority.

Gift Card Packaging Important to Consumers Survey Says

A recent industry survey showed consumers are more likely to purchase gift cards that come with additional packaging. 

While the news is good for the gift card industry the results are troubling from an environmental perspective. Increased packaging means increased use of resources primarily trees that produce much of the paperboard used for gift cards and packaging.

The 2008 Gift Card Packaging Study was conducted by The Marketing Workshop, and commissioned by Seastone a leading manufacturer of gift card packaging. 

The study found 84% of consumers would purchase a gift card if it came with free packaging.  In addition the study found 55% of consumers were more likely to purchase a gift card if additional packaging was available for purchase and that number increased to 62% if multiple packaging options were available. 

Why Are We Wasting?

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
(William Shakespeare, from his play “Julius Caesar”)

“We have met the enemy, and they are us.”
(Walt Kelly, from his cartoon strip, “Pogo”)
_________________________

The Chicken and the Egg

There are two schools of thought about why Americans generate so much waste. One school believes we have been conditioned to consume by big business, big media, and big marketing. People from this school are convinced that these massive entities – informally or perhaps not so informally – have conspired since the Industrial Revolution to line their pockets by socking us and sacking the environment. The other school believes just the opposite. These folks hold that the consumption treadmill rolls on and on because that is what American consumers want. The American character, they say, is self absorbed and materialistic, so business and media respond by producing more and more stuff.

The first school, which I call the Conspiracy School, believes the sustainable solution is more and more and more government regulation. The second school, which I call the Culture in Crisis School, believes the sustainable solution is blowing up Hummer dealerships. I believe the second school has it right with regard to diagnosing the illness, but has it all wrong when it comes to prescribing the cure.