SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING UPDATE

Consumer Awareness Is One Path
to Creating Sustainable Markets

By Wendy Jedlicka

Europeans have long understood the energy and space savings advantages of aseptic packaging. (Smaller refrigerators may "drive" that understanding.) In addition, aseptic packages offer sustainable benefits such as being made from primarily renewable resources and being recyclable. In the U.S., consumer groups and recycling advocates like Eureka Recycling (www.EurekaRecycling.org) are not only expanding consumers' understanding, but expanding recycling categories and recycling program participation too.

How can we connect with the consumer, change the way we serve society, and impact our world? And how can we "help them help us"? As the makers of goods, sometimes we get too into the details and forget that we're consumers, too. In this first article in a two-part series, we'll be looking at market greening from the viewpoint of a consumer eco-advocate—what are they telling "them" about "us"?

Every few minutes, advertising reminds us we live in a market economy. Our buying choices have a direct impact on how industry shapes our world. And in the end, decide our collective fate. "Hold on, I'm just buying a beverage, not running an oil tanker into a wildlife refuge!" If your beverage is in a plastic bottle, your purchase is partly why the tanker was there.

"I'm only one person, what can I do?" The necessities of a market economy don't always exist neatly within the boundaries of sustainable production cycles. Sustainability says goods should be produced, sold, used, and disposed by and for local consumers. But we live in a world where mass production is the only viable way to deliver goods we've come to enjoy as part of our quality of life.

As the genie won't go quietly back in the bottle, it's unreasonable to expect all regions to produce all goods for their local consumers, as true sustainability models dictate. Buying choices then become the driving force in determining how green a local market will be, its ripple through effect on a global scale, and ultimately how successfully we can shift from being blind consumption machines to being agents of positive change.

The price beyond the sticker

Paper packaging is made from a renewable, carbon-sequestering resource—trees. But from where? A plantation or an old growth forest? Even if the tree was planted on purpose, trees produce less pulp per acre than higher yield annual pulp crops like Kenaf and Hemp, and do nothing to help close an ecological and economic loop like Agripulp can. These facts turn what on the surface seemed an easy choice into a much harder one.

Glass packaging comes from abundant resources that are fairly easy to collect. Metal packaging resources like steel and aluminum are highly impactful to collect and refine. "Well that's easy then, I'll just buy stuff in glass." If only it were that simple. Glass packaging is heavier to transport in all phases of its lifecycle than steel for the same uses, such as prepared and preserved foods.

Heavier transport weight, however, means burning more oil. Oil is not renewable, an eco hazard waiting to happen, and when burned as fuel, adds to global warming. Plastic packaging is used today in place of glass because the light weight means less transport costs and because it is durable and clear. But plastic is made from oil and does not recycle as universally or continuously as versions in steel or aluminum that are now lighter than in previous years.

Every purchase we make (or thing we create) is a statement about how we really feel about the environment. Each package material and application has its pluses and minuses. Simply saying you recycle—or "it's recyclable"—is not enough. Each of us must look for opportunities to close the loop, be better educated, and find new ways of doing what we do in a more thoughtful way.

Wendy Jedlicka, CPP, is president of Jedlicka Design Ltd. (www.jedlicka.com), is chapter chair for o2-USA/Upper Midwest and liaison for the o2 Global Green Design Network (www.o2.org), and packaging and economics faculty for Minneapolis College of Art and Design's ground breaking Sustainable Design Certificate Program (www.online.mcad.edu).

Practice What You Preach

Consumer advocates are helping buyers to push for change. As package designers, we can also help consumers understand the issues, learn what to look for when shopping, and discover how to take action. Here are a few things to think about when designing packages with sustainability in mind.

Many European countries already have reuse and recycle programs entrenched in their society. In Finland, a beer bottle could be refilled 20 to 30 times before being recycled.

Shopping List for Positive Change:

- Choose products/packaging that use sustainably renewable or recycled materials first. Encourage manufacturers that are doing the right thing. Make those eco choices part of their competitive advantage.

- Buy locally. Products produced locally don't travel as far, and so burn less fuel.

- Choose products currently recycled in YOUR area, plus look for those that close the loop. Stay familiar with the recycling rules for your curbside program. Not all areas take all materials. Give preference to products that allow you to close the loop.

- Use common sense. Concentrates are more cost effective than ready to use. Do you REALLY need cheese in individually wrapped slices? If the package is plastic, is it adding a positive user feature? If it looks wasteful, it is. Don't encourage manufacturers to produce bad products with your money.

- Be an eco purchasing activist. In general, if you regularly buy a product that's overall really good, but has un-eco packaging, drop the company a letter. Tell them you'd like to keep buying their product but their un-eco packaging is making it hard for you. If there's a competing product packaged in a more responsible way, point that out too. Support manufacturers that are proud of their eco efforts (usually printed right on their packaging with more details on their website).

- If you see a friend using a product you know a good eco alternative for, casually mention it.

- Teach your kids why good buying choices and recycling are important. There are many websites to help them get involved.

- After a little research, give your company's purchasing department alternatives for more eco-friendly products. Most people will pick a more eco product if given the option, make it easy for them.

For easy answers to complex questions, point your browser to www.ecopackaging.net and click on "Procurement."