When it comes to successfully running your business, you need to focus more on how you can add sustainability to your list of things to get done. While you may feel like your small business is out of luck and won’t be able to keep up with some of the big names in your industry, there are some great sustainable packaging ideas you can choose.
Small changes could be the trick you need to ensure that you can change up your packaging and make it more sustainable than before. Some of the best sustainable packaging ideas that you can use for your small business includes:
1. The See-Through Bag
If you sell to your customers online and in retailers, you will have seen some of those cellophane garment bags. These transparent bags are great for making your clothing products look great and many consumers love them because they can see the material well, without using as much packaging as some of the other options.
Even when you sell the product online, the garment bag can make a big difference. The problem with them though is that they were originally made out of a single-use plastic, which is not going to be all that sustainable for the long-term.
The good news is that things are changing and there are other options you can choose. For example, if you want to still use the garment bags, you can go with a biodegradable cellulose that is better for the environment and will still feel just like the traditional plastic. This gives you a sustainable product that will impress your customers.
2. Avoid the Cotton Totes
Some companies will choose to go with cotton totes because they automatically assume that these are going to be green and easy to use. However, there are many studies that show how these bags are not quite as green as many people think.
In fact, these cotton tote bags are some of the least environmentally friendly options on the market. For the cotton back to have less impact than the plastic one, you would have to re-use it 131 times. And most of those cotton bags are not going to last that long.
If you are going for a cotton bag because you think it is better for the environment, it is probably best to go with a different option that will last you longer and looks good. It is not going to provide you with the sustainability that you need.
3. Find Eco-Friendly Mailing Bags
Mailing bags, or those plastic wallets with a peel and seal sticky strip that are put right into the flap, are a handy way for you to pack and then ship out some of the goods that you want to give to your customers. They are inexpensive, light, and durable. The biggest problem with them though is that you aren’t always able to reuse or recycle them.
However, there are a few steps that you can take that will make these plastic mailing bags more sustainable than before. Some of these include:
Make sure that you go with a bag that is created out of sustainable materials. Check whether the bag can be recycled after it is used or not. If you can find one that is made out of recycled materials, that is even better. You may need to shop around to find the right option.
Buy bags that have two of the sticky strips on them. If the customer will need to return the item, they will be able to reuse the bag that you sent to them, making it a better option.
4. Bubble Wrap Alternatives
Bubble wrap can be a great option when you need to keep fragile items safe in transit to the customer. But they are not good for the environment and will often take up a lot of space and be a lot of waste that the customer has to deal with. Using a cardboard bubble wrap alternative may be a better option to help you out.
Cardboards answer to bubble wrap isn’t one that you can pop, but it will be a whole lot better for the environment than using the bubble wrap that many other companies choose. Eco bubble wrap is going to be a paper-based wrapping material that is made out of crimped and meshed sheets of cardboard.
This type of wrap is going to be just as good for protecting some of the fragile items that you need to send out. But it has an additional benefit of being biodegradable. And since it is just brown cardboard, you will be able to recycle it almost anywhere that you would like.
5. Pick Out Smaller Packaging
How many times have you received a huge cardboard box in the mail just to find out that it is mostly empty and the shipper could have gone with something that was way smaller? This leaves a bad impression with most customers, making them imagine all the carelessness and wastefulness that comes with it as well, and it is something you can avoid.
If you are able to make the product fit into a smaller package, then it makes sense that you would do this. This will not only help reduce the amount of packaging you will need to work with, but it will save your company a lot of money on postage and shipping as well.
The only exception here is if you have a lot of stock of packing materials you need to dispose of. Get rid of that and then go with the smaller items.
Choosing to Add Sustainability to Your Packaging
The exact tips that you will use will depend on your business and the type of product that you will sell to the public. There is so much variation from one company to the next that it is hard to find a one size fits all solution. Take a look at some of the sustainable packaging ideas above and see which one is best for your small business.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
