So, Then, Really...What IS Sustainability?

By Wendy Jedlicka

The packaging industry is a complicated blend of disciplines, served not only by package-specific professionals, but overlapping efforts by graphic designers, industrial designers, marketers, logistics experts, psychologists, strategists...and the list goes on. Needless to say, the business of implementing sustainability, literally relooking at the way we do everything covers an even greater mix of industries and disciplines. Naturally, every industry, every company, every faction, and every group is going to want to have their needs met, their voice heard, and their bottom line respected. This is such an important question—defining "What IS a sustainable package?"—the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) made it their topmost priority project before embarking on any further efforts.

The big picture definition

Not to be considered mandated rules, the SPC instead looked to create a set of goals. Sometimes a product will meet all of them, sometimes designers will only be able to make a few improvements. The SPC's general idea was that if you define the solution, the problems will take care of themselves. The criteria for a sustainable package has eight clearly defined points, but really only ask these simple questions:

Does it make us humans, or the planet, sick? Then don't do it!

Can we use renewable resources (energy as well as substrates) and then use them again without going back to virgin sources?

Are we doing it efficiently, considering all costs (logistics, materials use, recyclability, etc.)?

Are all components doing what they're supposed to do? Do they protect, inform, and sell with an added bonus of restoring some of the resources we've already wasted as well as increase positive consumer perception?

All of these goals, though, are used to define what a sustainable package or product might look like. It is not a full definition of what sustainability is. So what exactly IS sustainability?

Wikipedia defines sustainability as: "A characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely. The term, in its environmental usage, refers to the potential longevity of vital human ecological support systems, such as the planet's climatic system, systems of agriculture, industry, forestry, and fisheries, and human communities in general and the various systems on which they depend."

The simplest answer, though, is one that's been kicking around a long time: Sustainability is the ability to provide for the needs of the present without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs. This most basic, fundamental idea is one that has been at the core of human society since settled communities began, and spawn other equally strong ideas such as "Don't eat your seed corn" and "Do unto others, as you'd have others do unto you." These are concepts that have been getting overlooked in our collective push to the future.

'Don't eat your seed corn'

Applying this fundamental idea to today, "Don't eat your seed corn" means do not use up what you need to keep the system going. With that in mind, one can quickly pull an example from sustainable forestry practices. Clearcutting is a very efficient and low-cost way to harvest wood. However, this practice treats wood like wheat, rather than the slow growing cornerstone of an area's survival system that it really is.

The impacts of clearcutting compromise the ability of the land to rejuvenate itself, maintain biodiversity, and to maintain the long-term economic health of the area. Sustainable forestry practices, on the other hand, have proven themselves viable over generations. With this in mind, part of what the Environmental Paper Network asks industry to do is:

End the use of wood fiber that threatens endangered forests. Some forests are so rare, threatened, or ecologically vulnerable (or are of such global biological or cultural importance) that any logging or commercial use could irreparably damage their conservation value.

End the clearing of natural forest ecosystems and their conversion into plantations for paper fiber.

Use alternative crops (annuals like Kenaf, Hemp, Agripulp, etc.) for paper if comprehensive and credible analysis indicates that they are environmentally and socially advantageous.

After maximizing the recycled fiber content that is feasible and appropriate, source any remaining virgin wood fibers critical for performance from independent, third-party certified forest managers that employ the most environmentally and socially responsible forest management and restoration practices. (Endorsed Third Party: Forest Stewardship Council [FSC])

'Do unto others as you'd have others do unto you'

The perfect package? Sustainable package design is not about creating the ideal package, but about getting close to the ideal in as many ways as possible.

This idea is perfectly illustrated by the new directives companies are pushing back on to their suppliers. The general tone these days is: "We want to be able to be proud of the products we sell, so stop pushing your lack of foresight—or inability to innovate—on to us to deal with."

Most industry professionals know the Wal-Mart scorecard has set new benchmarks for packaging, making the whole of the packaging industry re-examine what they're doing. In addition, Wal-Mart announced that it would measure the energy use and emissions of the entire supply chain of seven product categories, looking for ways to increase energy efficiency. Eventually, this initiative is expected to include other products—if not all—carried by the company.

Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Tesco, and Nestlé are joining together to form the Supply Chain Leadership Coalition. Formed in partnership with the Carbon Disclosure Project, the Coalition is an organization created with the intention of getting suppliers to release carbon emissions data and climate change prevention strategies. It would be no surprise if these companies, in turn, use that collected information to evaluate suppliers.

Put simply, companies are demanding of their suppliers the same criteria for ethics and foresight that the consumer and legislators are demanding of them. "Do unto us, as others would have us do unto them" is what companies are saying to their suppliers. Same song, but from a slightly different angle.

What Sustainability is NOT

Sustainability is NOT a tax on production. It is the end to hidden subsidies, and the beginning of assigning "true costs." The best illustration of that in current terms is Producer-Pays or User-Pays policies. Here, those people who use and benefit from a thing pay the full load for it—from the impacts of collecting the raw materials all the way through processing at end-of-life.

Currently, communities that are in the raw materials and production areas take the full load of those impacts (environmental degradation, loss of natural capital, bioaccumulation of toxins, waste management costs, and impacts) and communities at the end of the thing's life take the full load for disposal costs and impacts (bioaccumulation of toxins, waste management costs, etc.). But the community where the goods are traded (the sales side) gets the full benefit of the good side of the goods, without the messy birth and death bits. Is paying the FULL cost of creating and using a product a tax? Or is it just the end of the free ride?

Sustainability is also NOT a trade barrier. Setting standards for health, whether as applied to the product itself (lead paint in toys) or for our collective health (Certified Non-Rainforest Wood), sets the stage for eliminating goods globally that don't have our collective long-term interest at heart. Insisting your trading partners not create goods in a way or with materials that you yourself have outlawed in your own country is hardly an unreasonable request.

So what IS Sustainability?

One of the things that has been a surprising bonus is that sustainability is quickly becoming the common language for business. This word is unlike the never-ending stream of business fads that get CEOs all excited but leave middle management cringing. Now management, marketing, design, engineering, production, procurement, and logistics can all sit down at the conference table and at least START a project on the same page. Though each discipline still has its own language and motivations, the "tower of babble" that was the norm of conference rooms everywhere is now becoming united in some sort of vision, with shared goals and ethics.

What we are seeing is the start of one of the most amazing times since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Today, we have the opportunity to do nothing less than completely remake everything we do—but get it right this time, rather than just stumble into it. From the biggest buildings and whole communities to a simple box, every new project is an opportunity for innovation. Every new innovation is an opportunity for increasing market share, or adding to natural capital (putting back what we have blasted through). And every change we make in the market and how we manage resources is an opportunity to redefine the way we will live over the next 100 years. Sustainability is hope, it's exciting, and it's a complete paradigm shift. For those willing to get in there and go for it, there has never been a better time to create real, lasting, and positive change.

Wendy Jedlicka, CPP - Jedlicka Design Ltd. (www.jedlicka.com), o2 Global Sustainable Design Network (www.o2.org and www.o2umw.org), Minneapolis College of Art and Design's groundbreaking Sustainable Design Certificate Program (www.mcad.edu/sustainable).