WOW! WHAT A PACKAGE!

Cargo Lipstick Packaging Sows Many Seeds of Sustainability

By Lynn Dornblaser

Plant the Cargo Lipstick secondary packaging box in your garden, and a few weeks later wildflowers will pop up.

Consumers everywhere are being asked to take a stand and make some fundamental changes to their lifestyle—for the sake of the planet's future. Most consumers draw the line at anything that they see as restrictive or prescriptive, but many will make small changes to the brands that they buy—or accept different packaging—if alternative products or packages offer a lower impact on the Earth's resources.

Manufacturers in diverse product categories are responding with products and packages that are better for the environment, reduce the quantity of materials used, and care for ethical and social issues. Sustainability is a long-term trend—not a fad—in all areas of life and in all parts of the world.

In cosmetics and personal care products there is a clear move towards more natural and "greener" products—often using botanical and herbal ingredients—as well as biodegradable and ethical packaging. One of the latest launches from Cargo Cosmetics Corp. in North America meets a range of environmental criteria in a highly imaginative way.

Returning the love

According to Cargo, the company's PlantLove™ lipstick line has an innovative botanical formula containing Orchid Complex and meadowfoam seed oil. Like many other naturally positioned cosmetics, it is free from mineral oils and petroleum-based ingredients.

The lipsticks are presented in tube packages made from PLA, a biodegradeable material derived from corn starch that is a renewable and "greenhouse gas neutral" alternative to oil-based plastics. PLA (polylactic acid) is also used in beverage packaging as an alternative to PET in the U.K. with Innocent smoothies and Belu mineral water. In the U.S. market, we see PLA packaging used for Newman's Own Organics baby spinach.

For the new Cargo lipsticks, part of a series of 12 packages they call their PlantLove collection, the environmental credentials don't stop with PLA. The tube is placed in a box made from recycled paper that is embedded with seeds. After use this can be simply moistened and planted into soil and the seeds will grow into flowers! These Cargo products, though, sell at a premium to many brands—the lipsticks are $20 each for a 4-gram tube—but $2 from each purchase goes to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, creating an ethical link that goes beyond the environment.

Going the extra mile

Various color shades of Cargo lipstick are available, including five designed by celebrity U.S. actresses such as Evangeline Lilly and Lindsay Lohan. Other shades are said to be inspired by places of ecological beauty such as Yellowstone National Park in the Wyoming Rockies or Sagarmatha in the Himalayas. The products have attractive, decorative designs and communicate their positioning through subtle on-package statements: "Botanical lipstick, earth-friendly packaging," and "PlantLove...Grow tomorrow."

It may seem as if this product almost has too much going for it—compostable plastic tube, plantable outer carton, charitable contribution, and celebrity tie-ins. However, all those benefits together help make the product appealing to a broad range of consumers. Personally, I would have difficulty wearing a shade called "Lindsay."

Seriously, it's a product with alluring package design features that we are bound to see in more products as the focus on the environment continues to expand. To have all these alluring features today in one package—"Wow!"

Lynn Dornblaser is the director of the Custom Solutions Group at Mintel International. She can be reached at 312-932-0400 or lynnd@mintel.com.