How World Environment Day Inspires Smarter Packaging Choices?

Each year, World Environment Day brings worldwide attention to one of the major problems: plastic packaging. Plastic pollution is increasing day by day, so we must commit to the idea that packaging should not be the cause of it.

Environment Day is more than quotes and green themes. Its true meaning lives in the actions we choose to take long after the day has passed. This blog post highlights how an upcoming environmental day should inspire smarter packaging choices.

What are Smarter Packaging Choices?

Smart packaging choices refer to deliberate decisions brands make about how their products need to be or are being packed.

It’s not only about picking the eco-friendly packaging material, but also about how your packaging reduces waste and helps in PCR content.

The right sizing, material choices, and design elements are all included in smarter packaging choices.

Give you one scenario and tell how the real problem occurs?

One of the wasteful things a business can do is ship a small-sized product in a large box with unnecessary filler. Right-sizing is important because it reduces material waste, lowers shipping costs, and customers realise that the brand is paying attention.

Now, the material choices also have their own importance. Using non-sustainable materials that are hard to recycle puts the environment’s health at risk and damages brand reputation.

Then, lastly, the design element also matters. Smart packaging considers the entire lifecycle of a box or bag. And before picking the packaging design, ask yourself these questions:

1. Can it be reused?
2. Can it be recycled easily without the customer having to separate five different materials?
3. Is the ink used for printing water-based or chemical-heavy?

The Alarming Situation Nobody Talked About

This time, the world deals with one of the most visible packaging problems: packaging waste. There’s a lot of waste seen in overflowing bins, oceans, and landfills that never seem to shrink.

Earth Day started changing that thinking. The change doesn’t occur overnight but gradually. Each year, Earth Day reminds brands and individuals that environmental responsibility is a must and that eco-friendly initiatives should be taken.

If it is not addressed on time, our future generations will have to face its consequences.

How the Conversation Translates Into Action?

The Environment Day comes and goes each year, but the real impact it left matters. And conversation should not be limited to talks, but it should translate into action.

Whenever this year’s Environment Day has passed, you must do these things so you won’t end up with just talks this year, too.

1. Procurement teams review supplier options.
2. Marketing teams audit their packaging designs.
3. Operations managers look at the waste generated per order.

Change will happen slowly, not swiftly.

This is not only for bigger brands, but small brands should also take these steps. Brands that take these steps or are currently working on them will get a competitive advantage.

Many of them are doing it because their customers are asking for it, their competitors are moving in that direction, and the long-term cost savings are becoming harder to ignore.

The Role of Packaging Brands & Suppliers in All of This

The role of packaging brands and suppliers is paramount. Packaging is a core industry that is closely tied to environmental concerns. Hence, Environment Day is meaningless until they express their concerns towards sustainable packaging.

A packaging supplier that is actively working on sustainable alternatives and explains to their customers the environmental impact of different materials is doing something genuinely valuable.

Environment Day looks like just a one-day event, but it creates a natural opening for those conversations that might happen less often throughout the year. It gives an amazing opportunity for packaging brands to exchange ideas.

Conclusion!

Alone, one day is not enough to solve packaging waste and implement sustainable initiatives. But at least it reminds everyone that the problem is real, the solutions exist, and the time to act is not someday. It is now.

On this World Environment Day, we must agree on making smarter packaging choices rather than just relying on sayings and posts. Plastic pollution is not a matter of one; in fact, the whole universe is responsible for keeping the environment clean.

If we don’t take any initiative today, we will surely be responsible for what happens to this planet in the future.

Emenac Packaging New Zealand doesn’t use even 1% plastic in packaging, nor does it promote plastic manufacturing. We promote eco-friendly packaging practices that reduce waste and promote a greener future.