More and more business owners like yourself are looking to go green with their businesses but can’t pinpoint how to start the transition. We have just the tips for you to equip your business with more eco friendly packaging solutions. Stick around and find out that going eco friendly isn’t as hard as you might think.
Go back to basics
Going back to “basics” can be interpreted in a couple of ways; the materials you use for the packaging and/or how you package. On the materials front, we’ll get back to that later. Here, consider the latter – how you package the orders shipped to your customers.
One part of being eco friendly is to avoid waste. So we suggest reducing the size of your packaging by using the minimal amount of packaging as possible. Now, for many businesses, the packaging can be a source of branding on its own, sometimes with extra goodies, notes, and maybe even some extra materials inside to keep the item safe during the shipping and delivery process.
…we suggest reducing the size of your packaging by using the minimal amount of packaging as possible.
But such details can be wasteful and unnecessary both financially and environmentally. Strive to package items with the optimum amount of packaging required and what are truly necessary to minimize package sizes. Sure, it might come off as plain or boring at times, but being mindful of the resources you use is, again, a part of going green with your packaging.
Commit to and use sustainable materials
Eco friendly solutions can still be just a tad bit more pricey than regular off-the-shelf packaging materials, but that shouldn’t scare you from committing to mother nature. If you really thinking of going green with your packaging, then we highly recommend committing to using only sustainable materials to package items. Such materials can include paper, biodegradable plastics, wood, etc.
Sustainable materials also offer opportunities to repurpose and reuse, which we don’t need to tell you is a good thing. If not for you, then for your customers upon receiving. You too can encourage others to be environmentally friendly by allowing your packaging to be repurposed for something else by customers.
Find methods free of chemicals or environmentally harmful elements
Green packaging solutions are also about the materials being free of chemicals and harmful elements that could hurt the soil/environment. And if you’re in the F&B business, this is especially important for finding eco friendly packaging for food.
Nowadays, the market offers so many options for eco friendly packaging made from more responsibly sourced materials. You can find packaging made from mushrooms, nuts, cornstarch, leaves, recycled and biodegradable plastics, and more.
Green packaging solutions are also about the materials being free of chemicals and harmful elements that could hurt the soil/environment.
You can consider compostable packaging. These are packaging that can degrade in the soil and not cause pollution, but rather contribute to the soil’s health. They naturally decompose without leaving behind toxic residue.
Another option is plantable packaging. These contain seeds in them so that when discarded or planted, they’ll grow trees from the seeds out of the packaging. Pretty cool!
Consider multi-use packaging solutions that offer significant cost savings over time
The last tip we have for you is to adopt multi-use packaging solutions. This not only saves materials but also offers significant cost savings over time. For the most part, packaging like this are made from paper or cardboard. Examples include corrugated boxes, kraft paper, green cell foam, corrugated bubble wraps and air pillows.
Multi-use packaging solutions are adaptable and customizable to the products you’re shipping. Obviously, this supports recycling, reusing, and repurposing efforts. In addition, this means not every item requires its own packaging costs as you’re using and sharing materials with other products.
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