Roger Cook
September 7, 2022
With global climate change becoming more and more present, businesses, manufacturers and stakeholders are beginning to switch to eco-friendly processes, including how their products are packaged.
The packaging of physical products is very important. It provides a space for businesses to promote and sell their product. It displays the brands vision and, if designed well, can attract new customers after just one sighting. With the rise of e-commerce, it is easier than ever to sell physical products and the packaging of these products has been looked over in many instances to get the cheapest most affordable packaging available, rather than one that is nice and is also eco-friendly.
With the global climate rising, product packaging is another way we can make small changes to make a big difference.
Plastic Waste in Australia
Australians throw away 1.9 million tonnes of plastic packaging waste each year. That’s enough to fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground 9 times! Creating plastic packaging uses a lot of energy, water, and other resources. Nearly all of which becomes landfill and pollutes our air, water, and soil.
- In 2020 it was estimated that only 12% of plastic packaging was recycled, the remaining 88% went into landfills.
- When we look at the statistics on plastic the data is even worse. So bad that per capita Australians consume 24kg of plastic per year. Over half of this is from packaging in the food industry.
- 130,000 tonnes of plastic waste end up in Australia’s marine environments each year.
These shocking statistics show that it is time for businesses to rethink how they package their products and how us, as consumers, purchase products in our local stores (and online).
What happens to plastic packaging after use?
With 88% of Australia’s plastic packaging not being recycled and heading to landfills, it poses the question of, what happens to the plastic packaging in landfills?
Plastics, unlike other materials does not decompose, instead it breaks down into tiny little particles called microplastics that remain on our planet for millions of years. These microplastics make their ways into our rivers and oceans and become a leading cause for marine wildlife extinctions each year. So the more plastic packaging we buy, the more animals we are killing in the process. It is sad that our reliance on plastic has become so large that our wildlife cops the punishment for our “convenience”.
What exactly is eco-friendly packaging?
Eco-friendly packaging is the term used for packaging that is made from sustainable materials and can be recycled, composted and is safe for the environment. Eco-friendly packaging has several benefits
- Reduces the amount of packaging required
- Made from sustainable non-toxic ingredients
- Can be recycled and/or composted
- Often leads to a more simple, convenient design for consumers
Shifting to eco-friendly packaging is not a difficult task for businesses, here at Lucent Globe we design all our products to be packaged in recyclable materials and to be as minimalistic as possible to reduce the number of resources needed to create our packaging. Many other businesses all around Australia are beginning to incorporate eco-friendly packaging as a best practice. With consumers become more environmentally conscious of the products they are buying big businesses will continue to shift to follow the demand.
Advantages of buying products in eco-friendly packaging.
Shopping for products that provide an eco-friendly packaging option leads to a better, greener world. Other advantages include:
- Reducing the amount of plastic waste that makes it ways to landfills each year
- Reducing our carbon footprint. Our carbon footprint is the amount of CO2 that is released into the atmosphere from production of the product you have purchased. By switching to a product that is packaging in an eco-friendly material you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint.
- Majority of eco-friendly packaging is allergen and toxin-free which is becoming more and more popular with consumers.
- Strengthens a brands image. Here at Lucent Globe, we are proud of our packaging design, and we believe that it provides our customers with the confidence to buy our product, knowing that they are supporting a business who is doing everything they can to better our environment.
Conclusion
Making the switch to products that are packaging in an eco-friendly material is not a difficult task. Look for products that are making a change to switch to materials that reduce our carbon footprint. If we switch our focus from cheap plastic products to products that are packaged in an eco-friendlier way, more and more businesses will continue to make the switch. Here at Lucent Globe, we sell eco-friendly detergent sheets that are a unique product, free from nasty chemicals and come packaged in a lovely cardboard box that is 100% recyclable and compostable.