This week it’s all about thinking green as People and Planet host their annual Go Green Week – the UK’s largest week of student climate action. With events across the UK, the initiative aims to raise awareness of how opting for more sustainable alternatives can improve people’s lives and the impacts of climate change.
This consideration is particularly relevant for brands, as the more environmentally aware consumers are, the more recyclable, re-usable or eco-friendly products, production and company processes will need to be. Investing in more sustainable packaging is a simple way to achieve this; brands are reducing the amount of plastic packaging used and the weight and volume of packaging, and instead incorporating recycled matter into the packaging material. Equally, brands are now considering packaging at the product innovation stage, developing sustainable packaging that continues to add value to the product and for the consumer long after the packaging has been opened.
The traditional cardboard box is one of the most valuable packaging options because it is an accessible, cost-effective green solution, which also allows for creativity in the design process. As the basis of much of the packaging we consume worldwide, cardboard is the material we should continue to use to improve the product journey, customer experience and our impact on our environment – here’s why:
A sustainable and natural product
Although producing cardboard does involve the cutting down of trees, it involves a much more eco-friendly process than the manufacture of other packaging materials. Industries are increasingly adopting packaging from managed forests that replant trees to control and sustain the affected environments. Opting for cardboard based packaging with raw content – paper and starch glue – makes it a more natural product which also minimises companies’ carbon footprints.
Recyclable
According to the European Recovered Paper Council (ERPC) 2014 report, paper is one of the most recycled packaging materials in the EU, with a recycle rate of 71.7 %. In most instances cardboard packaging is 100% recyclable, as it is an organic material that can be reused and remade into other paper products at a lower cost than alternative packaging materials.
An environmentally friendly lifecycle
As well as being a natural and recyclable packaging material, cardboard is easy to dispose of and doesn’t require sorting. It’s a single material packaging option that can simply be collapsed and stored away or pressed into a paper bale. This makes it an ideal packaging material for businesses looking for convenient, time saving and cost-effective lifecycles with a minimised impact on the environment.
Versatile
Cardboard can be easily and creatively manipulated in a sustainable way. With enhanced design and production technologies, more brands are changing the way they use their cardboard packaging to extend the value of their products and brand experience. For example, H&M have created cardboard product bags that turn into hangers, a tea brand made their cardboard box packaging transform into an air freshener, and other food brands have benefitted their customers by creating cardboard packaging that helps them eat the product; a small bowl or cutlery. Cardboard is such a versatile material that, with intelligent design, can better serve consumer needs, economies and the natural landscape.
Durable
Cardboard is a highly used material for transit packaging, because it’s extremely strong, durable and resilient. The simple cardboard box can hold an immense amount of weight; plus it can be efficiently stacked and stored, which makes it a functional, long-term solution for a company’s packaging needs.
Effective branding
The plain cardboard box is a blank canvas for your brand design. It’s a packaging material that can cost-effectively be coloured, branded and shaped to convey your brand identity and make you stand out from competitors. There are also many branding techniques which can be applied to cardboard, such as embossing or screen printing, which can make your packaging design unique and interesting.
Furthermore, going green with a sustainable cardboard packaging solution, can allow brands to boost their value, reputation and consumer interest in their products and offerings, which in turn leads to increased brand loyalty and sales.
If you’re looking to improve your environmental credentials with bespoke, innovative packaging design, contact us today for a quote or call 01256 352415 to discuss your requirements.