6 Ways to Make Your Packaging Sustainable

Modern-day consumers are more concerned about the environment and are willing to pay more to brands dedicated to environmental responsibility. Sustainable packaging reduces carbon footprint, water usage, solid waste, emissions, and electricity. It also ensures your packaging is free of toxins and allergens.

Sustainable packaging should support and strengthen your brand, helping your business thrive. When designing sustainable packaging for your business, choose a design that protects the products in transit to avoid unnecessary returns and damages which can negatively impact the environment. Here’s how you can make your packaging sustainable.

1.   Use recyclable packaging materials

Recycling packaging is an excellent way to prolong the life of already used materials. Consider using recyclable material to make your mailers, boxes, or containers. Use a unique package design to ensure your packaging supports your brand. Materials such as paperboards are made using paper pulp. They’re lightweight and easy to cut and form, making them suitable for shipping boxes. You can also make containers and mailers from used plastics like bottles by recycling them to make packaging materials.

2.   Leverage reusable packaging materials

Reusable packaging is meant to be used more than once. You can use it several times over for various purposes once it accomplishes its primary role. Reusable packaging lasts longer than plastic, preventing the use of single-use plastics. If you have corrugated mailers and boxes, you can save and utilize them for client packaging, reducing emissions and the resources required to produce new packaging. Ensure reusing these materials supports your brand.

3.   Try plant-based packaging

Plant-based packaging materials are made from biological sources, including corn, seaweed, and food waste. The ideal plant-based packaging will depend on what you want to ship. For example, if you sell food, the material you use shouldn’t affect the food’s flavor; bioplastics are an ideal option. Strong plant-based materials like packaging made from mushrooms and cornstarch will be suitable if you ship bulky products.

4.   Use earth-friendly inks

When making your packaging products, opt for eco-friendly inks such as soy-based ink as an option for oil or petroleum-based inks. Its source, soybean oil, is 100% renewable and is cheap to grow. Since the ink is biodegradable, it organically breaks down and quickly goes back into the soil. When used with combustible products like tissue paper or mailer bags, the product becomes renewable and can go into the ground without leaching out any chemicals or hazardous waste. Water-based inks are also a good option safe for the environment.

5.   Use lesser packaging materials

balancing between creating an excellent customer experience and utilizing eco-friendly packaging solutions can be challenging. However, you can devise a great unboxing experience minus excess packaging material, reducing wastage. Avoid using too many layers of packaging material while ensuring sufficient product protection.

6.   Shift to more sustainable shipping labels

When using traditional labels for your outbound eCommerce shipping, you end up generating a lot of waste with release liners. Using sustainable liners is a great way to prevent waste and reduce emissions.

Endnote

Shifting to sustainable packaging improves efficiency and gives you design customization freedom. Use the above tips to greenify your packaging.