The past year has been an interesting time for the packaging industry as a whole. Riding the tailwinds of COVID-19, e-commerce growth (especially in the D2C sector) is unparalleled. Many companies are relying on their online sales as main drivers of their revenue. From an economic standpoint, this is great. However, from an environmental standpoint, this is deeply concerning.
Each year, our favorite clothing companies deliver tens of millions of packages to our front doors, with each plastic mailer going un-noticed. While riding is catalytic growth, the nature of this trend becomes widely concerning. According to National Geographic, the packaging industry has now become the #1 producer of plastic waste globally. What's more concerning is the fact that just 14% of this packaging waste gets recycled each year, the rest being incinerated, ending up in landfills, or left to burn. Not a sustainable business model, to say the least...
As a business owner, it is important to take responsibility for the areas that you can control. Packaging is one of the easiest and most effective ways to cut down on your footprint. Better yet, it often turns out being more profitable because of the goodwill and trust built in the brand. Here are a few tips to help you operate more sustainably:
- Use Compostable Mailers and Packaging when possible
- If you're a high-volume business, we'd recommend using our GRS-Certified 100% Recycled mailers as the price points often make more sense.
- If shipping clothes, eliminate the polybags and shift over to our compostable options instead
- Most shipping providers offset the carbon emissions from their shipping. We'd encourage you to do the same!
All in all, change is gradual and the first step is awareness. By embracing the problem at hand and begin taking action towards sustainability, we can help alleviate the global pandemic of plastic waste.
Recommended Products:
Compostable Polymailers
Compostable Padded Bubble Mailers
Compostable Garment Bags
Compostable Shipping Labels