Applications: An Earth-Friendly Mission
Pangea Organics promotes earth-friendly packaging.
By Marie Redding, Senior EditorPangea Organics has a serious environmental mission. On its packaging it states: “What we choose to consume today directly impacts how future generations will live tomorrow.” This spring, the company launched a new collection of facial care products in environmentally friendly packaging. Several packaging challenges had to be overcome.
First, the packaging for the new skin care line needed to coordinate with that of the body care line, even though the skin care line features glass bottles and the body care line uses plastic. The body care products are packaged in high-density polyethylene #2 bottles. “This is the most recyclable grade available,” explains Joshua Onysko, founder and CEO of Pangea Organics Ecocentric Bodycare.
Other challenges included making sure the packaging was as environmentally friendly as possible. Onysko worked with IDEO, a design firm based in San Francisco. “We always use recycled materials, but we wanted to take another step toward sustainability by looking at where the packaging materials are coming from,” says Onysko.
Protecting the organic formulations was another packaging challenge. Amber glass bottles were chosen in order to help protect ingredients such as essential oils from sunlight.
The amber glass was painted using brown acrylics. “The opaque paint keeps even more light from reaching the product. The more light you can keep out, the longer the medicinal oils that we use will remain stabilized,” explains Onysko.
Besides serving a protective purpose, the paint also provided a design solution. “It gives the glass a matte finish, which helps the skin care line coordinate better with the plastic bottles used for the body care collection,” says Onysko.
Labels containing 70% postconsumer recyclate decorate the glass bottles. The paper is made from hemp flax fibers that are sustainably forested.
Screen printing is used on the body care line’s plastic bottles, instead of labels. “We would like to eventually silk-screen all of our bottles, which would allow us to use fewer packaging materials. However, silk-screening on the glass bottles is one challenge we haven’t overcome yet,” says Onysko.
The bar soaps in the Pangea Organics line are packaged in a clamshell box, which is molded from 100% recycled newspaper pulp. The pulp is made from a newspaper and water mixture and is dried with technology used by the egg crate industry. UFP Technologies (Georgetown, MA) supplies the box. Aveda uses a similar box for its Uruku lipstick. A sleeve made from hemp fiber holds the box closed.
Pangea Organics’ parent company is Pangea Naturals Inc., a private-label formulator. As of a couple of months ago, Pangea’s Colorado factory is 100% wind-powered. “We hope that other companies will want to follow this example and turn to other forms of energy,” Onysko says.
Onysko’s dream is to one day be able to open the nonprofit Pangea Institute. A portion of all product sales will be used for this purpose. He hopes the institute could one day serve as an education center and small business incubator, where classes and workshops on environmentally and socially responsible business practices will be offered. “We are constantly trying to find new ways to lessen the impact that our packages and products have on the environment, and we hope to one day be able to help other companies do the same,” he adds.