Sustainable is Good | Where design, lifestyle and packaging meet

Provenance Reuseful gets Packaging Redeign from Jog Ltd, Wins Award

 

Provenance makes homeware products from recycled, reclaimed and renewable materials. The company has high ecological standards.  Provenance products are manufactured exclusively from ecological materials: 100% reclaimed teak (100% post consumer waste), 100% recycled glass (100% post consumer waste), 100% renewable cork (100% sustainably harvested).

 

When the company was looking at redesigning its packaging its requirements were strict, whatever packaging was used must share the same standards as its products.

 

Provenance turned to London-based Jog LTD to develop its new packaging.

 

Fiona Hamilton from Jog told SISG by email, "Strong orange is used for the boxes to draw attention to the display, the corrugated board for these boxes is 100% recycled (100% post-consumer waste), and is left unbranded to encourage reuse (but can be easily recycled). It is self-coloured to make any in-store damage less visible, reducing the need for re-boxing."

 

Branding is restricted to the paper sleeves, which are made from 80% recycled paper (80% post consumer waste with 20% eco-pulp from FSC-certified sources), with minimal ink coverage and no foil blocking to ensure they can be readily recycled. Sleeves minimize waste when adapting packaging to different languages.

 

Where products are boxed, the sleeve carries a simple line drawing to identify the contents instead of photography for a cleaner aesthetic, as the retailer will always display the physical products. Where possible, cut-outs frame the material of each product, drawing attention to it as much as to the completed product, which should only be one form the material takes in a wider journey of recycling.

 

Like the products themselves, all Provenance packaging is made from materials that are 100% recyclable.

 

Jog LTD's work on the Provenance packaging didn't go unnoticed the agency took home a Gold award at the 2012 European Design Awards.

 

MIT Researchers Develop Liqui Glide Bottle Coating

A group of MIT researchers has developed a interior lining for bottles which allows the contents to simply glide out. The product is called Liqui-Glide. There are many food product applications. Check out their website for more videos.

 

Sustainable Packaging – Why Bother?

BY DENNIS SALAZAR

The company that shipped this package to our office will remain unnamed because I have written about them before and after a while it starts looking like I am picking on them. The truth is that this post could probably be written about any number of companies who profess to be green and claim to be tirelessly working to protect the earth.

Words to Green By

As a young packaging professional, one of my favorite mentors had two favorite sayings that he often combined together: “Do What Makes Sense” and “Be Brilliant on the Basics”. His philosophy was fairly straight forward and simple – if you use your head and do the little things right on a daily basis, you usually come out on top. Baseball games and business are typically not won by crowd pleasing, memorable grand slams. More often than not, the difference between winning and losing is decided by singles, and doubles combined with a large dose of hustle.

The “Little” Things Add Up

With all that in mind, I am always critical of all the companies who are always quick to grab the sustainability headlines but continue to do, REALLY dumb green things on a daily basis.   

Here is what I see when I look at the packaging shown in the photograph:

• Most obviously, the box is at least six times larger than necessary for the order and product it contained. Why aren’t they right sizing? End result – WASTE!
• 3” plastic tape to seal the top of the box – most of the world uses 2” tape. Why are they using 50% more tape than is normally necessary? End result – WASTE!
• Standard corrugated box with probably 30 to 40% recycled content? Why aren’t they using a box with a higher or ideally100% recycled content? End result – WASTE!
• Auto Lock bottom on box bottom sealed with tape. (now I am getting really packaging geeky on you) One of the features of an Auto Lock bottom box is that it does not require tape. Yet they feel it necessary to seal it with more 3” tape. There is something definitely wrong with this picture. End result – WASTE!
• One air pillow for void fill – that single pillow does absolutely no good so you know, end result – WASTE!  

What is the cost of NOT doing the little green things well?

It is very difficult to estimate without a complete analysis (which BTW I have offered to do for this company for free) but conservatively, I can guess their packaging cost is probably 20 to 30% higher than it really needs to be. That same percentage probably applies to unnecessary packaging materials used and additional post consumer waste being created. This does not even begin to cover the cost of transportation, space, fuel, energy, and all the other things that factor in.

Not doing the little green things well is VERY expensive to all of us. So next time a package like this arrives, I urge you to complain. It does matter and it is important but it will never be important to the companies doing the shipping until we let them know.  If they are not willing to do it for the bottom line, perhaps they will bother when it impacts their top (sales income) line. That is a good reason to bother. 

 

Dennis is president and co-founder of Salazar Packaging and he writes on the topic of sustainable packaging for numerous blogs and magazines, including his own blog, Inside Sustainable Packaging.

Dennis and his company provide custom eco friendly packaging solutions through Salazar Packaging and stock green packaging products via Globe Guard Products, which is the first internet store featuring all eco-friendly packaging supplies.  

 

More Foods Using Pouch Packaging

 

Interesting article in today's Chicago Tribune about the rise of pouch packaging in food products.  I think we've all noticed more and more products being sold in the pouch style packaging in recent years. 

The Tribune cites a study done by the Mintel Group which says in 2011 there were 1,248 consumer products sold in pouch packaging compared to 909 in 2007.

I remember several years ago at Expo East when GoGo Squeez applesauce made a splash in their green resealable pouches.  Now everything from pet food to ketchup is being offered in the pouch packaging.   

Pouch packaging has a cost saving component to it for companies who make products in that it requires less resources to make the packaging. 

In the non-food sector pouch packaging has been very popular among companies like Method who've touted it as the more ecologically friendly form of packaging.

 

Reusable Packaging Options for 2012

Innovative Products like the Globe Guard Reusable Box Sealer Can Help Companies Reduce Waste and REUSE

Reusable packaging represents the ultimate in sustainable packaging.  Developing packaging that is truly reusable is something we should all be striving for when we're developing and conceptualizing new packaging solutions.

Reusable packaging is nothing new to Dennis Salazar President of Salazar Packaging and a long time SISG contributor.  Dennis has been focused on producing reusable packaging options for his clients for several years now and launched Reusable Packaging Options to help clients incorporate affordable reusable packaging into their businesses.

To Dennis reusable packaging isn't just about the packaging used to ship products to customers.  Dennis and his company are focused on helping companies reuse corrugated and other materials throughout the entire process of product development to shipment to the customer. 

One innovative product is the Globe Guard Reusable Box Sealer.  The Reusable Box Sealer is designed to help companies reduce packaging waste during testing, product development, shipping preparation and other applications.  The Box Sealer does not require the use of any destructive or wasteful tape or glues and allows a box to be sealed and reopened repeatedly until ready for shipment.  The benefits of this creative product are numerous and allow for significant reduction in corrugated waste.

As we're about enter 2012 companies are looking for ways to reduce costs and eliminate waste more than ever.  To Dennis this represents a perfect opportunity to focus on reusable packaging options. 

"As companies continue their efforts to reduce cost and their carbon footprint in 2012, and assuming they have already reduced their packaging as much as possible and they have utilized high recycled content/recyclable packaging wherever possible, it stands to reason that reusability might be the best option left to deliver meaningful, positive green results," said Dennis.

High BPA Levels found in Holiday Food Staples

The Breast Cancer Fund recently released a report focused on BPA levels found in canned goods routinely used to prepare holiday meals.  The results of the report, BPA Levels in Thanksgiving Canned Goods, is unsettling. 

High levels of BPA were found in holiday staple items like Campbell's Turkey Gravy, Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup, Del Monte Fresh Cut Sweet Corn Cream Style and Libby's Pumpkin.

The report found that in more than half of the products tested a 120 gram serving of the canned item contained enough BPA to show adverse health effects in lab studies.

The study included alternatives to the canned items it focused on including similar products packaged in Tetra Pak packaging or frozen items.

Download a PDF of the report

 

Conscious Box Lets Consumers Try Variety of Green Products

Conscious Box is a new concept in the green marketplace.  Consumers subscribe and each month receive a box of eco-friendly and natural products.  The products have all been carefully screened and reviewed by the staff at Conscious Box before being included.  Companies cannot buy their way into having their products included in the box.

Why is this an interesting idea?  Well I think most consumers who are looking for green or more eco-friendly products will appreciate being able to try products before committing to buy a larger size version. 

With green products there is constant change in the marketplace with new products popping up and other ones failing.  The Conscious Box allows a consumer to try a number of products in small quantities before buying them at the store. 

Lets face it eco-friendly products are expensive and some of them don't work out as we had hoped.  Also many green consumers are highly concerned about waste if a product doesn't work out or isn't something they like.  Conscious Box allows the consumer to try products.

Another interesting feature of the Conscious Box is its packaging.  The makers of Conscious Box placed a high level of importance on making the box and the shipping container as green as possible.  They worked with Salazar Packaging in Chicago to develop the ideal packaging solution for their product. 

Dennis Salazar, president of Salazar Packaging and a SISG contributor said the box and shipper are made from 100% recycled corrugated content produced by wind power.  He told SISG the Conscious Box team was adamant about using the greenest possible packaging.

Read more about the packaging for Conscious Box at Inside Sustainable Packaging

Greenbox Pizza Box

I had pizza the other day from Federal Hill Pizza in Warren,RI and the pizza came in a GreenBox.  I wasn't familiar with the GreenBox but I have to say after experiecing it firsthand its a useful and innovative product.

The GreenBox looks like a normal pizza box however the top of the box is perforated on the inside and splits into four sections that serve as plates.  The remaining bottom part of the box also folds up into a smaller profile box for storing leftovers.

GreenBox is made from recycled corrugated cardboard and is made by Evovention based in New York.

 

Snapple Partners with Maroon 5 on Tea to Benefit Feeding America

Snapple announced a partnership with Maroon 5 on a tea to benefit Feeding America.  The tea blend dubbed "Tea Will be Loved" is a mix of green and black teas with pomegranate and berries.

Tea Will Be Loved will benefit Feeding America, the nation's largest hunger-relief organization, by helping to provide 1,750,000 meals to those in need.

Inspired by the unique personalities of the band members and named for their smash-hit "She Will Be Loved," this limited release Snapple tea will be available at participating retailers nationwide beginning on September 1, 2011.

"We traded in our instruments for lab coats and had the opportunity to take over the Snapple lab to craft our own tea," said Adam Levine, lead vocalist for Maroon 5.

"After lots of taste-testing, we each chose our favorite flavor and combined them to create Snapple Tea Will Be Loved to benefit Feeding America. We love it, and we're excited for our fans to try it."

Tea Will Be Loved is a five-fruit mash-up of the best stuff on Earth, with each band mate choosing their own flavor to add to the tea: pomegranate, orange, blackberry, raspberry and hibiscus.

Tea Will Be Loved features new packaging with 13 specially marked gold Snapple caps with real facts about Maroon 5 and Feeding America.  The band also contributed to the graphic design of the packaging for the new tea.

If You Care Trash Bags

Here is something I came across recently that just makes a lot of sense in terms of packaging. If You Care is selling trash bags in a simple roll - wrapped with an outer band that serves as the packaging.

I thought this design was simple and brillant.  It allows the company to include its brand & product info and it lets the consumer actually see and be able to feel the product. 

Not only is the packaging very efficient the bags are made from 97% post-consumer recycled plastic.  Not bad. 

The bags are currently available in two sizes and are on store shelves now in the US.