With the unprecedented rise of internet sales & Online Shopping, more and more parcels & boxes are being couriered around the country than ever before. Whether you’re a small business, a large company or just selling a few items online, the question bound to occur to any conscientious mind is – “how can I ensure I am minimizing damage to the environment in the choice of packaging materials I use?”
Only Use What Is Necessary
Many products are sold and shipped with a great deal of unnecessary packaging – sometimes for items as small as a credit card. Think seriously about the impact packaging will have on your customers and clients. In today’s more Eco-aware times, a large flashy wrapper is often regarded as wasteful, whilst a moderate and discrete presentation shows your commitment to the environment. Packing material can be essential to protect fragile items, but be careful not to use more than is essential.
Use The Right Kind Of Packaging
One of the most obvious steps is use of recycled packaging in as many areas as possible. Recycled materials are often cheaper and just as durable and represent a real opportunity to get the most out of the resources we all use. Use recycled boxes, packing foam and printing paper for labels.
Recycled paper or cardboard can come from a variety of sources. For example, paper trimmings and other paper scrap from paper mills; material discarded after consumer use, corrugated cardboard boxes, magazines, newspapers, office paper, household mixed paper and telephone directories.
The process of paper recycling follow mixing of used paper with water and chemicals to break it down. It is then chopped up and heated, which breaks it down further into strands of cellulose, an organic plant material, resulting in a pulp. This is filtered to remove any glue or plastic remaining then cleaned and de-inked.
Marketing
As we have mentioned, today’s consumers and businesses are expecting more and more of the companies that they buy from. Information about supply chains and corporate ethics are becoming part of the public awareness. In this business environment the successful companies are the ones that make ethical choices about issues such as packaging and are seen to be giving something back to the worldwide community. Brands that become associated with low standards of environmental regulations are often taken to task in the media.
By choosing environmental packaging as part of your business ethic, you benefit from the good will felt towards companies regarded as ecologically ‘safe’, often resulting in vocal support for your company amongst like-minded people.
Deal With Environmental Friendly Companies
It is also important to deal with environmentally committed companies. Recycling isn’t the only way to help the environment. One of the major environmental impacts of shipping goods is pollution caused by transport of goods and materials. Some companies will take into account logistics such as the distance between the paper recycling plant and the factory producing the recycled packaging. Reducing environmental impact across the board makes a noticeable difference to the carbon footprint of each company.
