GD Capstone 09

http://www.re-nourish.com/sustain/index.php?blog=5
To design packaging that is sustainable, we’ve devised this short list for you to refer to during your project.

• Ask why? Is the packaging necessary?
• Manufactured and transported using renewable energy
• Design packaging yourself, don’t use “canned” alternatives
• Design for re-use/longevity
• Minimize packaging – more does not equal quality
• Biomimicry - use nature as a model
• Use safe natural materials that biodegrade and nourish the soil when thrown away (Cradle to Cradle Method)
• Design cyclically not linearly
• Avoid Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
  

You can join the Sustainable Packaging Coalition for more support on this important design issue. You can also find great guidelines and tips at indes.net.

Here is a brief list of vendors that provide safer packaging material alternatives:
Geocup, Earthshell, more to come…

Packaging sells. As great as a product may be, without packaging many in-store purchases wouldn’t happen. However, the flip side to packaging is that it accounts for 33% of our solid municipal waste in our landfills (Source: Sierra Club, 2006). Our packaging is made of paper, plastic, foam, aluminum and glass. Much of this could be reused or recycled (only 30% actually does) but instead lies forever in our community dumps. Every year the EPA finds Americans throw away:

• 5,190,000 tons of glass beer and soda bottles
• 4,200,000 tons of plastic wrap and bags
• 3,650,000 tons of junk mail
• 970,000 tons of plates and cups
• 830,000 tons of beer and soda cans
• 450,000 tons of milk cartons

Should our design work end up in the trash? What message does that send? Shouldn’t our work do better? Not only should it sell the product, but in turn not burden future generations with increasing waste? Design for reuse, minimal waste, or using safe natural resources that biodegrade and provide nutrients for the soil.

Plastics are a mixed bag. Some are better than others, but in general are not sustainable. All plastics are made with petroleum, off gas and leach into materials (including water and foods) they come into contact with over time. The FDA call plastic packaging that come into contact with food, “indirect food additives“. Plastics do migrate chemicals into materials that they touch. So it is important to be aware when designing packaging that involves plastics, that over time they could eventually become a part of what is packaged.

Plastic is not sustainable and never recycles, but instead downcycles. A plastic container that is recycled will never become a plastic container again, but instead could become a plastic bag or in other cases turned into fibers to make clothing (e.g. Patagonia). Much of the plastic used in clamshell packaging of products in your stores involve PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride). PVC cannot be recycled and is considered a contaminant by most global environmental organizations/governments. PVC is linked to ear, kidney and lung cancers and has a safe exposure level of zero, but it is a strong plastic and many retailers like Wal-Mart demand it to avoid shrinkage (theft). Please avoid PVC at all costs. There are other ways to make sturdy packaging that are safer. Use our packaging guidelines previously stated as a starting point to begin exploring.

Listen to a March 30, 2004 radio show from KPFA 94.1 San Francisco about dangers of plastics in packaging and in your everyday life.

As part of our plastics education campaign we’ve decided that its important to be aware of all the different types of plastics out there. We always see those numbers 1-7 on the bottom of our plastic packaging, but rarely really know what they mean. We’ve decided to put these in order for you. The list below won’t be numerical (1-7) but instead, most preferred plastic to least preferred environmentally. Pass it on.

High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE)

Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE)

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)

Polypropylene (PP)

Polystyrene (PS)

Other - Junk Plastic

Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Never use. Prohibitied