The rising problem of waste and pollution drives industries into finding solutions towards a
green and sustainable economy. From replacing fossil fuel materials to plant-based, biodegradable materials and using renewable resources, scientists and specialists have strived and are still aiming towards finding these natural resources that aim to reduce and demolish this waste issue.
Plastic waste levels have reached over 323 million metric tons, and 16% of it consists of plastic containers and packaging materials.
(Bio-Based Materials for Food Packaging, 2018)
In order for us to defeat this environmental issue, we need to try and achieve solutions that are bio-based, eco-friendly, sustainable; Solutions that will aim towards replacing the petroleum-based, plastic packaging materials that are only adding damage with no benefit.
There is no lie that many companies, brand owners and even consumers are becoming more and more interested in solving this waste from packaging issue. We see many companies choosing compostable and sustainable packagings, and consumers that aim towards living healthier and choosing to support more sustainable options and companies in their day to day life.
What is Sustainability?
According to Oxford English Dictionary “sustainable” is described in two ways that are applicable in this text.
1. Of, relating to, or designating forms of human economic activity and culture that do not lead to environmental degradation, esp. avoiding the long-term depletion of natural resources.
2. Utilization and development of natural resources in ways which are compatible with the maintenance of these resources, and with the conservation of the environment, for future generations.
Sustainable design and The Triple Bottom Line
In the book SustainAble (2008) by Aaris Sherin, the author describes terms such as such as
“Eco-friendly,” “green,” “eco-design,” and similar expressions are frequently used to refer to processes and concepts that value environmental responsibility. However, the author clarifies how the term “sustainable” refers to only the environment, but also examines the social and economic implications of materials, designs, and production processes.
The author then explains the concept of the triple bottom line, which as mentioned, includes the two other areas: the social and economical impacts of the designs. These three bottom lines are often referred to as the three P’s: people, planet, and profit.
Design to Renourish (2017) introduces the concept of the triple bottom line and goes in depth in the first chapter of the book: Chapter 1 Beyond the bottom line. It also illustrates the three outcomes of graphic design: Firstly, how graphic design has a good effect on people, and economy. It explains the significance of graphic design in assisting the spread of messages to people. Second how socially, graphic design helps ease people’s everyday lives from well designed signage, branding campaigns and assisting local nonprofits organizations go international and succeed.
However, the book also illustrates how influential graphic design is by showcasing scenarios where influential graphic design lead to negative outcomes such as designing “cradle to grave” designs that contribute to the landfill problems and harm the environment, putting out negative advertising exposure and ideas such as false advertising which can harm people and plants wrong concepts in people’s heads. This only highlights that many issues in each component of the triple bottom line overlap; which highlights that as designers, we need to consider sustainability because its all interconnected.
Sustainable packaging examples
When talking about “solutions” to the waste caused from packaging; it is evident how many
companies choose cardboard and cardboard boxes as the easiest “environmentally friendly” solution. And indeed, cardboard is said to live up to the hype; due to its various shapes and sizes, its significant strength (which is obvious in the well-known moving and storing process). Also, cardboard boxes are said to be about 80 percent biodegradable and breaks down with ease if ending in landfills. That is due to the raw materials to make cardboard; which are trees and paper pulp.
However, cardboard can be a little difficult of an option when talking about food packaging; in this case, let us look at Snact: a company aiming to produce 100% compostable packaging, and have created food packaging and wrappers that are “certified to come in contact with food” (Forbes, P. n.d.). Snact created their packaging using banana peel, the “perfectly edible part of the food that’s nearly always thrown out.”
Q: You may wonder about the impact of these single-use materials; are they harmful due to lack of reusability?
A: The answer is simply that being “single-use” is not the biggest issue that serves the food packaging waste, but actually the petroleum-based, single-use, packaging.
When talking about sustainable, single-use packaging, we cannot forget to mention algae based Agar, which is a natural material available in huge numbers. In the article “The role of sustainable packaging in 2019 [+ examples]” (n.d.), it is stated how this material can be used and replace single-use food products such as plastic straws and spoons.
Meanwhile, considering products that come in liquid or fluid forms; glass could be one of the easier to access materials. According to the book Bio-Based Materials for Food Packaging (2018), glass is defined as “the transparent, non-crystalline solids, disordered and amorphous material.” Furthermore, the book mentions the several uses of this material, stating that “In early days glass was just used for decoration purpose, but nowadays glass has very much importance in the technical fields. Glass is used in making of instruments, electrical transmission, domestic appliance, bioactive glasses, biomedical devices, laboratories, etc.” Glass could be a possible packaging solution to storing products that are liquid or come in a more fluid form.
Ahmed, S. Bio-Based Materials for Food Packaging : Green and Sustainable Advanced Packaging Materials, Springer, 2018.
Benson, E., & Perullo, Y. (2017). Design to renourish : sustainable graphic design in practice. CRC Press.
Forbes, P. n.d. The role of sustainable packaging in 2019 [+ examples]. Retrieved from: https://packhelp.com/sustainable-packaging/
Sherin, A. (2008). Sustainable : a handbook of materials and applications for graphic designers and their clients (Ser. Design field guides).
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