From the Publisher: Dare to Peer Down the Rabbit Hole
James Wagner
It may seem scary, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
By James Wagner, PublisherCreating a sketch is often just a small part of a designer’s job. Making sure that a concept is feasible to produce takes skill. Steve Corsi, a designer at Markwins International, explains how he has learned to streamline the design and production process.
“I consider it critical to know how to cut the development time for any project. If all of the details are worked out during the planning stage, you’re that much closer to ensuring that everything runs smoothly and achieving your vision. If you don’t get all this right from the beginning, you’ll always have to end up compromising something later on,” Corsi explains.
Want to drive a packaging team crazy? Mandate sustainable packaging in, say, six months. Important safety tip—don’t linger after the announcement.
The problem is that sustainable packaging is an ephemeral concept. Ask 20 packaging engineers what it means, and you’ll hear 20 different answers. FTC Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch remarked that some experts recommend that the word sustainable be banned from labels, along with its cousins green and eco-friendly.
In spite of the confusion, companies large and small have leapt onto the green bandwagon. Wal-Mart has its scorecard, Burt’s Bees announced its pledge to sell all products in 100% postconsumer recycled (PCR)/biodegradable packaging by 2020 (www.burtsbees.com), Cargo Cosmetics (www.cargocosmetics.com) offers its PlantLove line of 20 lipsticks in cases formed from NatureWorks’ (www.natureworks.com) polylactide (PLA) resin, and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (www.sustainablepackaging.org) launched its COMPASS project, an online tool set to launch soon which evaluates packaging’s environmental impact.
Safe to say, almost every beauty company has a green initiative in one form or another. Arguably, green isn’t new. What’s different is escalating material prices. Source reduction becomes an economic necessity when plastic, paper, glass, and metal prices soar.
Which leaves little wriggle room for packagers trying to carry out green mandates without a tangible sustainability definition. It’s hard to execute a plan when the goal is up for interpretation.
Case in point. During CPC Packaging’s sustainability seminar at Cosmoprof North America, a woman responsible for packaging mass-market cosmetics directed question after question at the three panelists on stage. Her message resonated among the 200 people in the audience. How does one develop functional, attractive, affordable green packaging when there isn’t a clear definition of what green packaging is?
The panelists, John Delfausse, vice president of packaging for The Estée Lauder Companies and chief environmental officer for its packaging team; Gina Garrubbo, CEO and cofounder of Natural Beauty Innovations LLC and Terralina; and Robert Kerr, partner at Pure Strategies, all had the same advice. Do something, anything. Only don’t stand still.
Easy to say, persisted the woman, but do exactly what? Her per-piece costs were so low, how could she possibly afford sustainable packages?
The panel suggested that sustainability means doing whatever is possible to reduce, recycle, or reuse materials. Some companies will have the resources to carry out extensive research and develop programs. Others will not. It’s the state of the art, at least for now. Not exactly the words a self-respecting engineer wants to hear.
As with any sea change, the most important decision is the choice to commit. Gina Garrubbo refers to the process as “looking down the rabbit hole.” When she began developing her Terralina personal care line, the possibilities appeared endless. Paper versus plastic. PLA versus PCR. Reusable versus recyclable. If PCR, then what kind of PCR? Where did the material come from? Could most communities recycle the finished package? The choices went on and on. She decided on several options, including 100% postconsumer recycled HDPE and green cell foam from non-genetically modified corn.
The bigger point is that she committed. You may or may not have the resources to pursue every sustainable package option under the sun, but you can choose to do something. For now, that’s a huge step in the right direction.