If you want to make your business more environmentally friendly, you have your work cut out for you. From switching to renewable energy to adopting carbon offset programs, you need to take various actions to make a difference.
Designing your product packaging to be more sustainable is part of these practices. Besides reducing the waste that your business creates, it also shows your customers that you’re committed to taking care of the environment. This not only helps you meet your goals of becoming more eco-friendly but also gives you an edge over competitors.
To help you along this path, here are a few sustainable packaging ideas for your business.
Reusable Packaging
Similar to rising trends in sustainable fashion, sustainable packaging means thinking strategically about the use of your resources. This encourages you to invest in reusable packaging for your products. Whether you use wood or metal materials in your packaging, encouraging your customers to reuse or repurpose them can help lower the consistent depletion of the planet’s natural resources.
In addition to making your business more sustainable, reusable packaging also creates more value for your products. If you dedicate some time to designing your product packaging, you can make it appealing enough to be one of your best selling points and attract more customers that way.
Returnable Packaging
Besides giving your customers a reason to reuse your packaging after getting their products out of it, you can also ask them to return your product packaging so you can use it all over again and reduce waste. For this purpose, you need to create high-quality packaging that stands the test of time.
By adhering to test standards like ASTM D4169, you can make sure that the integrity of your packaging stays intact under stress. This can be a great way to show your eco-conscious customers that you’re doing all that you can to take care of the planet.
Compostable Packaging
Speaking of customers who live an environmentally friendly lifestyle, you can appeal to them through compostable packaging. If you haven’t heard about this trend before, compostable packaging breaks down into fertilizer once it is composted. It can be used with or without a composting machine.
While compostable packaging naturally attracts audiences who want their lifestyles to be more sustainable, they’re not the only groups that can benefit from it. If you create strong outreach campaigns using a digital marketing platform, you can also inspire those who are yet to adopt environmentally friendly practices for their households.
Recyclable Packaging
If you have adopted ideal garbage removal practices for your business, you may already know about the power of recycling. In your journey to become a more sustainable business, you can instill these benefits of recycling into your product packaging. This can significantly help with waste reduction.
Once you start looking into recyclable packaging, you may find that it is easier to put into action than what everyone makes it seem. While the bigger challenge here is to inspire your customers to do the right thing and recycle the packaging, you can achieve this goal with strong messaging.
Bamboo Packaging
If you have been keeping track of sustainable business practices, you might have seen an uptick in the use of bamboo across a variety of categories, like the world of keepsake urns. It’s because bamboo is a sustainable material that grows fast, needs little water, and can be cultivated without harmful practices.
You can get bamboo packaging from several vendors and see how it holds up to your shipping standards. But here’s the catch: While bamboo packaging is more environmentally friendly, it can also be a bit more expensive than regular packaging. This calls for you to check your business accounting software before committing to this material.
By going through these tips, you can transform your regular product packaging into a more sustainable part of your business. At the same time, you must keep costs and resources in mind and try out different ideas before adopting one of them as your ideal solution.