Don’t want to get into legal battles with the state for using toxic materials for packaging? Get on the train of sustainability, where you can have your colors while still achieving all the sustainability goals. Read this blog to explore ways you can be an eco-safe brand in the marketplace.
1. Start by Choosing Sustainable Materials
Being an eco-safe brand comes with replacing your toxic packaging with ones that can easily be disintegrated. Choosing sustainable packaging materials will help your brand in many ways. You can reduce the brand’s carbon footprint, attract customers with the same values, save on purchasing, and even on shipping costs. Let’s have a look at what some of the sustainable packaging materials you can use for your brand and how:
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Kraft
Kraft boxes are mostly used by different industries and brands because of the many benefits they have to offer. These boxes are lightweight and cost-effective, which makes them a great fit for many small businesses. Brands use different packaging styles for their products to boost visibility, like pillow boxes, tuck boxes, and pyramid boxes.
You can always get a professional to help you with pillow box design ideas or choosing designs for pyramid or tuck boxes. Items such as jewelry, soaps, coffee, cookies, cakes, and even several makeup products can be packed in customized Kraft boxes.
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Compostable Mailers
You can use compostable mailers when sending products such as T-shirts, slippers, lightweight jewelry, and non-fragile items. These mailers replace the traditional plastic packaging and provide an eco-friendly solution to customers.
Once these mailers are used, they can easily be composted by burying them in the backyard. Customers prefer using compostable mailers as they don’t have to drive to the recycling facilities in town and can easily degrade the packaging at home.
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Seed Packaging
Have you looked at the new trend with invitation cards? They are a bit different from the ones we used to get, not so long ago. The reason is that people have started using seed packaging for their invites. But more importantly, brands are using this packaging to pack their products in.
For customers, getting a seed that will bloom into a beautiful plant someday feels like a win-win situation. For them they are buying two things for the price of one. This is why you can pack your lightweight and rather non-fragile items like beauty blenders or earrings, makeup brushes, and more in customized seed packaging.
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Cardboard
When shipping products to distant places or choosing to go into the retail market, use cardboard packaging. Boxes made of cardboard are sturdier than Kraft boxes and can keep the products safe from external bumps and shocks during shipping. You can choose different thicknesses of the cardboard to make your custom cardboard boxes. Most brands use these boxes to send PR packages to influencers.
As a bakery owner, you can get tailored cookie packaging made of cardboard boxes for your business. Moreover, you can pack mugs, jars, shoes, pendants, chocolates, sweet treats, and even vape cartridges in these boxes.
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Corrugated Cardboard
Corrugated cardboard is used when shipping products such as ceramics, glass, and furniture., Most brands selling electronics and gadgets like headphones, drone cameras, and even Polaroid cameras are in corrugated cardboard boxes. These boxes have three layers: two cardboard boxes and a corrugated flute sandwiched between them. You can choose different types of flutes based on the shipping distance and the product’s nature.
When shipping fragile items such as glassware, you can even get double-walled corrugated boxes to keep the glass fully protected until it reaches the customers. These boxes keep the products safe from bumps, jerks, water, and dust to an optimum level. Mailer boxes are made of corrugated cardboard and are used by different brands to pack several items.
2. Choose Minimalist Designs
After you have selected the packaging material, it’s time to choose the designs and colors. Being an eco-safe brand doesn’t mean that you only choose sustainable materials. There are more ways that you can ensure being a sustainable brand, and one of them is by choosing the designs. You can reduce the carbon footprint and save resources by using fewer resources when designing your packaging.
This means opting for minimalist designs is going to give your boxes a sophisticated look while helping you achieve your sustainability goals. When you use minimalist designs, less ink and energy are used for printing, which eventually becomes an eco-safe venture. There are tons of minimalist designs you can explore. And minimalistic designs work for every industry, be it a bakery, a high-fashion brand like Cartier, or even any tech brand.
3. Use Plant-Based Dyes
While brands use eco-safe packaging and minimalistic designs, they often tend to forget that the type of ink they use impacts the sustainable goals a lot. Choosing petroleum-based inks is going to halt your eco-safe journey, as these inks are toxic and are harmful to the environment. This is why your customers cannot even disintegrate these boxes with petroleum inks in their backyard. However, if you switch to the better alternative, the plant-based inks, you can eliminate the problem very easily.
These sustainable ink dyes give the same colors that the petroleum ones will give, and at times are even brighter when printed on the boxes. Marketing your brand as a complete eco-safe brand, including the ink dyes, will give you a boost as more customers are becoming aware of the harmful impact of toxic chemicals and packaging.
4. Avoid Unnecessary Packaging
When your product can safely reach the customer in one box, why use two? Recently, many retailers and brands have started using Ship In Own Container (SOIC), which means that the package will not be further packed in a brown box. So even if you are customizing the packaging, make sure to give your products enough protection that one box will do the job.
You can do so by using custom inserts and fillers. Use cardboard inserts and give the products a snug fit so that even during bumps, the product does not sustain any damage. Moreover, using fillers such as colored shredded paper or cotton balls is both eco-safe and offers a beautiful and memorable unboxing experience to the customers.
How to Drive Sales with Eco-Safe Custom Packaging?
Every D2C brand should know that sometimes, looks matter, and this is the reason custom packaging has replaced the stock packaging in almost every corner of the world. You can always make your eco-safe boxes admirable and aesthetically pleasing with just a bit of touch-up. Apart from using charming designs and dazzling colors, what your brand can do is use eco-safe finishes. Market your sustainability goals and boost the brand’s visibility in the market.
