packaging
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p o n d e r i n g
»
GREEN
7/6/05
PACKAGING BY BERNE BROUDY
»
we
LIVE IN A GRAB-AND-GO economy, and the waste it generates
is staggering. We buy pre-made sandwiches, transport
our take-out meals in plastic bags, and throw away 320 million non-recyclable hot and cold drink containers every day. More than 500 million wood pallets are made and used once, then burned or thrown in the landfill each year in the United States. We wrap our products in cardboard, plastic or paper, and then ship them packed in plastic, Styrofoam and who knows what else. Little, if any, gets reused. Packaging is a complex, convoluted and grossly resourceintensive part of industry and life. It is by definition disposable, expensive, prefabricated trash made from a list of ingredients that includes ancient forests and environmental toxins. Packaging often goes straight from the retail shelf to the landfill by way of a trash can or dumpster. According to a 2000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study, Americans throw out 75 million tons of packaging each year. “In the U.S., we still act like we live in a frontier society of unlimited resources, and it’s absolutely not true,” said Dan Imhoff, author of Paper or Plastic: Searching for Solutions for an Overpackaged World. “Most outdoor industry companies give money to protect, preserve or conserve the environment. These companies need to look inside their own walls to really make a difference.”
how they want products packaged. Mountainsmith, The North Face and Kelty are boxing tents and sleeping bags now. This practice is new to specialty, and one that is often at odds with its systems and customers, many of whom choose specialty for the hands-on experience. Why the change to boxed tents and bags? Warehouse-style stores without specialty staff have the storage space for boxed
RETHINKING THE WAY WE PACKAGE PRODUCTS FROM THE MANUFACTURER’S PLANT TO THE RETAILER’S SHELVES.
RETAIL REALITIES The packaging needs of specialty retailers and big box stores are markedly different. Many big box and chain retailers specify clamshell packaging, while outdoor specialty retailers have traditionally tended to operate on a more personal basis with product and customers, often foregoing packaging in favor of a hands-on approach. That’s beginning to change for all retailers, though, as big boxes dictate 90
»OUTDOOR »SUMMER 2005
tents and bags, and rely on pallets for storing and moving product—made easier when the goods are individually boxed. In a giant store with limited and non-specialty staff, the box also replaces the relationship between staff person and customer. The packaging ends up explaining the product’s features and benefits. » W W W. G E A R T R E N D S . C O M
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WHO SAYS YOU CAN’T HAVE EVERYTHING?
Good looks, intelligence and charm. The Energy Series from ASOLO, really does give you the very best of all possible worlds. First, you’ve got tough water-resistant upper plus a GORE-TEX ® inner lining. Second, the most advanced footbed available anywhere. ASOLO’s own DUO ASOFLEX® technology unifies a shock absorbing mid with a stiffer anti-torsion layer beneath. Add a PU midsole and bi-density rubber out sole unit, as well as some eye catching styling, and the Energy Series becomes a very desirable catch. But then they are Italian.
Comfort and rigidity combined
Anti-torsion System
For more details visit www.asolo.com
Bi-density Sole Unit
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»»
Specialty retail shouldn’t have to use boxes. In specialty stores, sleeping bags are traditionally displayed on racks or hangers where the customer can feel the fabric of a sleeping bag, or even take the bag down, climb in and experience it on the sales floor. Frequently, as space allows, specialty retailers set up tents on the floor or hang them from a wall or ceiling where features are visible and can be explained by store staff. While secondary packaging (primary packaging holds the product—like a stuff sack—and secondary packaging is an extra skin) tells the product’s story, these boxes take up significantly more storage space and don’t compress down to fit. In specialty, storage space is often at a premium. Recently, REI had The North Face and Kelty remove the exterior box off their tents and bags before shipping to REI’s distribution center, although it is testing one Kelty tent in a box this summer to see if the box boosts retail sales. Big specialty stores like REI have the buying power to mandate that extra packaging be removed before manufacturers ship to its facilities. Smaller retailers often don’t feel or
A demonstration of boxed and non-boxed tents in a display. REI is trying out Kelty’s boxed tents this summer.
know they have that same clout, although manufacturers we spoke with said they would listen to requests to reduce packaging if more specialty stores spoke up. MSR said that it would save money if it could skip the glossy packaging. “If we started getting the request from retailers for product without packaging, we’d listen to it,” said Cascade Designs General Manager Jeff Bowman. “But we haven’t heard anything. And having to stock additional SKUs has its own costs.” “Bigger packaging means that we can’t fit as much on our slatwall hooks, which means less inventory on the floor,” said Mike Donohue, COO of the Outdoor Gear Exchange in Burlington, Vt. Donohue estimates that his store employs one person three-quarters to full time just to deal with removal and disposal of excessive transport packaging. (Transport 92
»OUTDOOR »SUMMER 2005
packaging protects the product during shipping.) During our interview, he calculated that a box of four-dozen gloves that was just received yielded a grand total of 205 bags. When GearTrends® called Paul Fish, president of Mountain Gear, to talk about packaging, he had just shipped an order of 250 water filters. Before they went out, his staff removed each filter from its box and repackaged it into a smaller box to avoid the prohibitive cost of shipping empty space. Mountain Gear ships thousands of packages each year, mostly in reused boxes stamped to say that they are being used again to save the environment. Like the staff at the Outdoor Gear Exchange, Mountain Gear’s staff spends a lot of time removing packaging and a lot of money disposing of it. “It’s incredibly frustrating when an item comes packaged for retail, and we need to ship it,” said Fish. “There is a lot of waste.” One of Fish’s biggest complaints is sealed clamshell packages, which cost him money and are frequently made from toxic polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Because specialty customers expect to be able to feel and touch a product, they often open the packaging. But once a product is removed from a non-resealable package, it has to be discounted and sold as the floor model. Fish said his preference is packaging that is not just pre-fab trash, but something with an identity beyond instant trash, like the reusable food grade containers that Granite Gear uses to package its Airstream Stuff Sacks. However, other retailers don’t like the stacking canisters and the POP display that holds them because, according to one retailer, the POP doesn’t hold enough product, and doesn’t fit on the slatwall. Fish stressed the need for options. He pointed out that Wisconsin Pharmacal packages its Potable Aqua in single clamshell packed bottles or as a box of 12 with transport packaging only.
CONNECTING TO CUSTOMERS Bowman said Cascade Designs has invested years of time and money rethinking and refining its packaging in case retail employees aren’t up to snuff or POP materials don’t get displayed. It’s found that eye-catching, informative packaging is its most effective connection with the consumer. “There are fewer people on the retail floor across all categories,” said Bowman. “It’s an issue at the specialty level, especially with the rate of employee turnover. That’s one of the main drivers. The other is to help the consumer make their decision, and to point
them to our product. We determined that our products need to be visible at the point of sale, and visible within their packaging.” Although Cascade Designs is shipping a lot of air inside its oversize boxes, it specs recycled and recyclable materials. It has partnered with Hemlock Printers, which has been Forest Stewardship Council-certified for environmental responsibility and post-consumer content, and uses soy-based inks and between 10 percent and 50 percent post-consumer recycled material. “Part of our corporate strategy is minimal impact,” said Jennifer Gombas, Cascade Designs’ marketing project manager. Though she manages all of the company’s packaging, the environmental message behind its thoughtful design wasn’t something she or Bowman knew much about until GearTrends® asked them to research it. This is not uncommon as we have discovered during the last year of researching and writing the SNEWS® Green Scene columns. Very often, while one part of the company may pursue a stronger environmental responsibility initiative, other departments, including PR and marketing divisions, appear to know very little about it. Part of the packaging conundrum is about being creative and catching the eye of consumers within the parameters of existing retail display and delivery options. When Patagonia discontinued the packaging for its Capilene base layers, it didn’t take “no” for an answer from retailers. Capilene garments are “sushi-rolled” and held together with a rubber band around the roll with a hangtag card. In the face of retail push-back, Patagonia instead took the time to educate them about the packaging solution. “The sushi roll is so efficient, you can fit a lot of inventory in a very small space,” said Patagonia’s U.S. Sales Manager Rich Hill. “When we encountered resistance from retailers, we trained them on why this packaging was a good choice, and taught their salespeople how to put the package » W W W. G E A R T R E N D S . C O M
PACKAGING PHOTOS: © BROUDY/DONOHUE PHOTOGRAPHY
Products that rely on environmentally friendly packaging, or very little packaging at all, should be the goal to which we aspire.
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back together when a customer took it apart. It’s a space- and money-saving solution. We disproved the claim that reducing packaging decreases the value of the product to the consumer. It’s just not true.” As far as loss, Hill said that two-thirds of shrinkage is employee theft that can’t be prevented by packaging. “And,” he added, “with the way people shop on the Internet, and the way people research products, if you have to rely on a hangtag or a box to sell your product, something is wrong.” Hill said he is pushing for Patagonia to eliminate hangtags all together.
GET IN LINE
Page 94
Germany initiated the “Ordinance on the Avoidance of Packaging Waste,” requiring manufacturers to pay for take back, disposal and recycling of packaging. The EU followed suit with a 1994 Packaging and Packaging Waster Directive. This kind of mandatory producer responsibility is currently unheard of in the United States, but this could change. REI evaluates product from two aspects: how a product will fit within its store space and how it fits into its corporate culture. “We’ve identified the environment as an area of opportunity for improvement for
DAN IMHOFF, AUTHOR OF PAPER OR PLASTIC: SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS TO AN OVERPACKAGED WORLD, RECOMMENDS THREE BABY STEPS TO GET PACKAGING IN LINE WITH THE ENVIRONMENT: 1. HAVE AN ANCIENT FOREST POLICY. It can specify you will not use packaging material that is damaging ancient intact forests. Since 65 percent to 70 percent of packaging is wood-based, this will steer you in the right direction. And recycle. The energy savings of one ton of paper can be significant. And fiber can be recycled up to six times. 2. DEVELOP A POISONOUS SUBSTANCE POLICY. Many packaging materials use dioxin-producing processes, use bleach or require creation or incineration of PVC in their production. Deciding to eliminate poisons from your packaging will point you toward available alternatives. Substitute PET for PVC and forego chlorine-bleached papers. Consider the plasticizers, adhesives, additives, inks and dyes used in your manufacturing process and substitute best available technology. 3. MAKE A COMMITMENT TO CLOSE LOOPS WITHIN YOUR PACKAGING SYSTEM. Consider reusable versus materials solutions. Reduce the amount of material you use. When you use packaging, size it to your product. If you want to take it a step further, consider the suggestions from a May 2003 article in a Packaging World Magazine article “Cradle-to-cradle: The next packaging paradigm?” by David Newcorn (www.packworld.com/articles/Features/16105.html).
WHY CHANGE? “The degree to which modern packaging serves marketing, branding and sales interests rather than fulfilling the more essential functions of safety, efficiency, convenience, delivery and environmental health and security deserves to be questioned,” Imhoff said in his book Paper or Plastic. “Companies are giving a lot of money to non-profits,” said Jim Heiden, president of Teko Socks, “but they are not looking at the whole supply chain.” Increasingly, manufacturers will need to think about their environmental impact. And it’s not just for fear of being called hypocritical. In Europe, thinking about the environmental impact of packaging is a requirement, not a choice. Most European countries have take-back laws (EPR or Extended Producer Responsibility laws), which places the burden and cost of package disposal on the manufacturer. In 1991, 94
»OUTDOOR »SUMMER 2005
REI,” said Michael Collins, REI’s vice president of public affairs. “Packaging is a place where we want that commitment and materials to come together. We’re looking at where our big impacts are, and at our consumption loop. We want to know what we purchase and where it comes from, and what happens when we’re done.” REI has just defined corporate social responsibility—defined as achieving commercial success in ways that honor ethical values and respect people, communities and the natural environment—and made it one of its core corporate values. Patagonia tries to give local markets what they need and balance that with Patagonia’s environmental commitment. And the company is open about the mistakes it made along the way. In the mid90s, Patagonia tried paper bags for packages for its Capilene base layers. “It was disastrous,” Hill recalled. “It got torn, it wasn’t reusable, there was lots of waste, and consumers couldn’t see the
product.” Patagonia is currently taking another look at its Capilene packaging in Europe where it is not in line with its core corporate environmental commitment. “Our Capilene packaging in Europe is a disgusting laminated box with an adhesive window,” Hill explained. “We are not satisfied or proud, but we are doing something about it.” Patagonia is developing a compostable package made from recycled newspaper to replace the box.
SOLUTIONS ARE AVAILABLE Creative, responsible packaging can save companies money, while minimizing the environmental impact on forests and rivers where we love to go adventuring. For example, Motorola developed an air cushion system to ship its silicone wafers; each cushion is reusable 25 times. This replaced singleuse, corrugated cardboard, and reduced breakage and shipping costs. Clif Bar eliminated the shrink wrap on its bulk production boxes, and saved not only 90,000 pounds of plastic per year, but also $445,000 annually. Teko socks recently proved that low-impact packaging doesn’t mean you won’t be noticed. The company received an award earlier this year from Communication Arts for its “green” packaging. Its socks come on 100-percent recycled tag board printed with soy-based inks, and no glue, staples or plastic. Heiden’s goal is to convert all of its transport packaging from poly bags to cardboard boxes, which contain a significant percentage of recycled content, by Sept. 1. The switch will lessen Teko’s environmental impact and make the socks easier for retailers to handle. “Marketing people always want something new and different,” said author Imhoff. “If the money spent on excessive packaging went into educating retailers and consumers about why a product has minimal packaging, we’d all be a lot better off. If a company puts standards first, they’ll end up with a healthy product with a strong story. Put marketing first, and you’re on a resource intensive path to wastefulness.” REI is taking initiatives on its own products, including ironed-on hangtag info applied directly to the back panel of some packs. It’s also switching to organic cotton for stuff sacks. GearTrends® only knows of one outdoor product that the manufacturer will take back from the consumer and recycle: Guyot Designs’ new “Meal Gear” line being introduced at Summer Market. In June, Guyot was sorting out the details of how consumers can return the nylon utensils to the company for regrinding. “The goal,” said Sloan Russell, president of Guyot, “is a closed loop system.” Because of the properties of nylon, the reground utensils can be reused without any degrading of » W W W. G E A R T R E N D S . C O M
Gear Trend Ad
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! e r e h t t e g n a You c
If you’re looking to keep your family fit, don’t let them take life sitting down. GET FIT WITH US by using America’s public lands and waters. It’s your big backyard and you can get there to hike, bike, paddle or camp. With millions of acres of public lands in all 50 states and over 2,000 miles of scenic rivers, America’s public lands and waters are a perfect fit for raising healthy families. Healthy outdoor activity starts young and never gets old. So share the experience and take a child outdoors today. Go to www.recreation.gov to find recreation sites in your area.
Gear Trend Ad.indd
1
6/14/05
12:24:36 PM
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material. However, FDA regulations prohibit recycling a product that has been used for food into another product that will come in contact with food, so the nylon has to be recycled into another product. As this legal hurdle and the Patagonia brown bag fiasco illustrate, solutions aren’t always simple. “For example,” said Imhoff, “the idea of bio-based plastics is very appealing, but it’s a techno fix. There are 80 million acres of corn in the U.S.; there is a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico each summer from farm runoff. Conventional corn is intensively fertilized with petroleum-based chemicals, and corn farms are a heavily subsidized industry. It’s technology that has an appropriate place, maybe as a biodegradable coating for paper cups so that they can be recycled instead of trashed, but it’s not a panacea.” Guyot’s Russell said retailers still need a lot of education. “Many retailers are still looking for old materials whether or not they are toxic. Manufacturers like Patagonia and Guyot are committed to finding new and creative answers and sorting through the pros and cons of each solution,” he said. “There is a ramp-up period for any product that looks or feels new. But if you give people enough reason to use it, they will.” » SNEWS® is committed to communicating the Green Scene message. To read regular columns, go to www.snewsnet.com/greenscene.
GREEN CARD If you want to sell products in Europe, make your packaging “green.” The European Union has established a directive that between 55 percent and 80 percent of all packaging will have to be recoverable and recovered by 2008. The EU directive is based on six principles: » Material must be separable and recoverable, not just theoretically recyclable. » Degradable packages must be organically recoverable. » Packages that will be disposed of through incineration must burn safely and with measurable positive energy production. » Manufacturers must prove that a package solution can’t be smaller. » Packages must be free of noxious substance and hazardous materials. » Reusable packages must be specified wherever possible.
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» W W W. G E A R T R E N D S . C O M
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NEW FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF
Get t he Buzz! action. adventure. lifestyle.
DEBUTS AUGUST 1, 2005
Get your message in front of the largest generation in history — ONE THAT SPENDS $150 BILLION A YEAR!
770.817.9000 [ext. 204] www.asxmagazine.com
9:35 PM
Page 90
SCENE
p o n d e r i n g
»
GREEN
7/6/05
PACKAGING BY BERNE BROUDY
»
we
LIVE IN A GRAB-AND-GO economy, and the waste it generates
is staggering. We buy pre-made sandwiches, transport
our take-out meals in plastic bags, and throw away 320 million non-recyclable hot and cold drink containers every day. More than 500 million wood pallets are made and used once, then burned or thrown in the landfill each year in the United States. We wrap our products in cardboard, plastic or paper, and then ship them packed in plastic, Styrofoam and who knows what else. Little, if any, gets reused. Packaging is a complex, convoluted and grossly resourceintensive part of industry and life. It is by definition disposable, expensive, prefabricated trash made from a list of ingredients that includes ancient forests and environmental toxins. Packaging often goes straight from the retail shelf to the landfill by way of a trash can or dumpster. According to a 2000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study, Americans throw out 75 million tons of packaging each year. “In the U.S., we still act like we live in a frontier society of unlimited resources, and it’s absolutely not true,” said Dan Imhoff, author of Paper or Plastic: Searching for Solutions for an Overpackaged World. “Most outdoor industry companies give money to protect, preserve or conserve the environment. These companies need to look inside their own walls to really make a difference.”
how they want products packaged. Mountainsmith, The North Face and Kelty are boxing tents and sleeping bags now. This practice is new to specialty, and one that is often at odds with its systems and customers, many of whom choose specialty for the hands-on experience. Why the change to boxed tents and bags? Warehouse-style stores without specialty staff have the storage space for boxed
RETHINKING THE WAY WE PACKAGE PRODUCTS FROM THE MANUFACTURER’S PLANT TO THE RETAILER’S SHELVES.
RETAIL REALITIES The packaging needs of specialty retailers and big box stores are markedly different. Many big box and chain retailers specify clamshell packaging, while outdoor specialty retailers have traditionally tended to operate on a more personal basis with product and customers, often foregoing packaging in favor of a hands-on approach. That’s beginning to change for all retailers, though, as big boxes dictate 90
»OUTDOOR »SUMMER 2005
tents and bags, and rely on pallets for storing and moving product—made easier when the goods are individually boxed. In a giant store with limited and non-specialty staff, the box also replaces the relationship between staff person and customer. The packaging ends up explaining the product’s features and benefits. » W W W. G E A R T R E N D S . C O M
088_103_ChngGrnPddlLaw
7/7/05
2:15 AM
Page 91
WHO SAYS YOU CAN’T HAVE EVERYTHING?
Good looks, intelligence and charm. The Energy Series from ASOLO, really does give you the very best of all possible worlds. First, you’ve got tough water-resistant upper plus a GORE-TEX ® inner lining. Second, the most advanced footbed available anywhere. ASOLO’s own DUO ASOFLEX® technology unifies a shock absorbing mid with a stiffer anti-torsion layer beneath. Add a PU midsole and bi-density rubber out sole unit, as well as some eye catching styling, and the Energy Series becomes a very desirable catch. But then they are Italian.
Comfort and rigidity combined
Anti-torsion System
For more details visit www.asolo.com
Bi-density Sole Unit
088_103_ChngGrnPddlLaw
GREEN
7/6/05
9:36 PM
SCENE
Page 92
»»
Specialty retail shouldn’t have to use boxes. In specialty stores, sleeping bags are traditionally displayed on racks or hangers where the customer can feel the fabric of a sleeping bag, or even take the bag down, climb in and experience it on the sales floor. Frequently, as space allows, specialty retailers set up tents on the floor or hang them from a wall or ceiling where features are visible and can be explained by store staff. While secondary packaging (primary packaging holds the product—like a stuff sack—and secondary packaging is an extra skin) tells the product’s story, these boxes take up significantly more storage space and don’t compress down to fit. In specialty, storage space is often at a premium. Recently, REI had The North Face and Kelty remove the exterior box off their tents and bags before shipping to REI’s distribution center, although it is testing one Kelty tent in a box this summer to see if the box boosts retail sales. Big specialty stores like REI have the buying power to mandate that extra packaging be removed before manufacturers ship to its facilities. Smaller retailers often don’t feel or
A demonstration of boxed and non-boxed tents in a display. REI is trying out Kelty’s boxed tents this summer.
know they have that same clout, although manufacturers we spoke with said they would listen to requests to reduce packaging if more specialty stores spoke up. MSR said that it would save money if it could skip the glossy packaging. “If we started getting the request from retailers for product without packaging, we’d listen to it,” said Cascade Designs General Manager Jeff Bowman. “But we haven’t heard anything. And having to stock additional SKUs has its own costs.” “Bigger packaging means that we can’t fit as much on our slatwall hooks, which means less inventory on the floor,” said Mike Donohue, COO of the Outdoor Gear Exchange in Burlington, Vt. Donohue estimates that his store employs one person three-quarters to full time just to deal with removal and disposal of excessive transport packaging. (Transport 92
»OUTDOOR »SUMMER 2005
packaging protects the product during shipping.) During our interview, he calculated that a box of four-dozen gloves that was just received yielded a grand total of 205 bags. When GearTrends® called Paul Fish, president of Mountain Gear, to talk about packaging, he had just shipped an order of 250 water filters. Before they went out, his staff removed each filter from its box and repackaged it into a smaller box to avoid the prohibitive cost of shipping empty space. Mountain Gear ships thousands of packages each year, mostly in reused boxes stamped to say that they are being used again to save the environment. Like the staff at the Outdoor Gear Exchange, Mountain Gear’s staff spends a lot of time removing packaging and a lot of money disposing of it. “It’s incredibly frustrating when an item comes packaged for retail, and we need to ship it,” said Fish. “There is a lot of waste.” One of Fish’s biggest complaints is sealed clamshell packages, which cost him money and are frequently made from toxic polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Because specialty customers expect to be able to feel and touch a product, they often open the packaging. But once a product is removed from a non-resealable package, it has to be discounted and sold as the floor model. Fish said his preference is packaging that is not just pre-fab trash, but something with an identity beyond instant trash, like the reusable food grade containers that Granite Gear uses to package its Airstream Stuff Sacks. However, other retailers don’t like the stacking canisters and the POP display that holds them because, according to one retailer, the POP doesn’t hold enough product, and doesn’t fit on the slatwall. Fish stressed the need for options. He pointed out that Wisconsin Pharmacal packages its Potable Aqua in single clamshell packed bottles or as a box of 12 with transport packaging only.
CONNECTING TO CUSTOMERS Bowman said Cascade Designs has invested years of time and money rethinking and refining its packaging in case retail employees aren’t up to snuff or POP materials don’t get displayed. It’s found that eye-catching, informative packaging is its most effective connection with the consumer. “There are fewer people on the retail floor across all categories,” said Bowman. “It’s an issue at the specialty level, especially with the rate of employee turnover. That’s one of the main drivers. The other is to help the consumer make their decision, and to point
them to our product. We determined that our products need to be visible at the point of sale, and visible within their packaging.” Although Cascade Designs is shipping a lot of air inside its oversize boxes, it specs recycled and recyclable materials. It has partnered with Hemlock Printers, which has been Forest Stewardship Council-certified for environmental responsibility and post-consumer content, and uses soy-based inks and between 10 percent and 50 percent post-consumer recycled material. “Part of our corporate strategy is minimal impact,” said Jennifer Gombas, Cascade Designs’ marketing project manager. Though she manages all of the company’s packaging, the environmental message behind its thoughtful design wasn’t something she or Bowman knew much about until GearTrends® asked them to research it. This is not uncommon as we have discovered during the last year of researching and writing the SNEWS® Green Scene columns. Very often, while one part of the company may pursue a stronger environmental responsibility initiative, other departments, including PR and marketing divisions, appear to know very little about it. Part of the packaging conundrum is about being creative and catching the eye of consumers within the parameters of existing retail display and delivery options. When Patagonia discontinued the packaging for its Capilene base layers, it didn’t take “no” for an answer from retailers. Capilene garments are “sushi-rolled” and held together with a rubber band around the roll with a hangtag card. In the face of retail push-back, Patagonia instead took the time to educate them about the packaging solution. “The sushi roll is so efficient, you can fit a lot of inventory in a very small space,” said Patagonia’s U.S. Sales Manager Rich Hill. “When we encountered resistance from retailers, we trained them on why this packaging was a good choice, and taught their salespeople how to put the package » W W W. G E A R T R E N D S . C O M
PACKAGING PHOTOS: © BROUDY/DONOHUE PHOTOGRAPHY
Products that rely on environmentally friendly packaging, or very little packaging at all, should be the goal to which we aspire.
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back together when a customer took it apart. It’s a space- and money-saving solution. We disproved the claim that reducing packaging decreases the value of the product to the consumer. It’s just not true.” As far as loss, Hill said that two-thirds of shrinkage is employee theft that can’t be prevented by packaging. “And,” he added, “with the way people shop on the Internet, and the way people research products, if you have to rely on a hangtag or a box to sell your product, something is wrong.” Hill said he is pushing for Patagonia to eliminate hangtags all together.
GET IN LINE
Page 94
Germany initiated the “Ordinance on the Avoidance of Packaging Waste,” requiring manufacturers to pay for take back, disposal and recycling of packaging. The EU followed suit with a 1994 Packaging and Packaging Waster Directive. This kind of mandatory producer responsibility is currently unheard of in the United States, but this could change. REI evaluates product from two aspects: how a product will fit within its store space and how it fits into its corporate culture. “We’ve identified the environment as an area of opportunity for improvement for
DAN IMHOFF, AUTHOR OF PAPER OR PLASTIC: SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS TO AN OVERPACKAGED WORLD, RECOMMENDS THREE BABY STEPS TO GET PACKAGING IN LINE WITH THE ENVIRONMENT: 1. HAVE AN ANCIENT FOREST POLICY. It can specify you will not use packaging material that is damaging ancient intact forests. Since 65 percent to 70 percent of packaging is wood-based, this will steer you in the right direction. And recycle. The energy savings of one ton of paper can be significant. And fiber can be recycled up to six times. 2. DEVELOP A POISONOUS SUBSTANCE POLICY. Many packaging materials use dioxin-producing processes, use bleach or require creation or incineration of PVC in their production. Deciding to eliminate poisons from your packaging will point you toward available alternatives. Substitute PET for PVC and forego chlorine-bleached papers. Consider the plasticizers, adhesives, additives, inks and dyes used in your manufacturing process and substitute best available technology. 3. MAKE A COMMITMENT TO CLOSE LOOPS WITHIN YOUR PACKAGING SYSTEM. Consider reusable versus materials solutions. Reduce the amount of material you use. When you use packaging, size it to your product. If you want to take it a step further, consider the suggestions from a May 2003 article in a Packaging World Magazine article “Cradle-to-cradle: The next packaging paradigm?” by David Newcorn (www.packworld.com/articles/Features/16105.html).
WHY CHANGE? “The degree to which modern packaging serves marketing, branding and sales interests rather than fulfilling the more essential functions of safety, efficiency, convenience, delivery and environmental health and security deserves to be questioned,” Imhoff said in his book Paper or Plastic. “Companies are giving a lot of money to non-profits,” said Jim Heiden, president of Teko Socks, “but they are not looking at the whole supply chain.” Increasingly, manufacturers will need to think about their environmental impact. And it’s not just for fear of being called hypocritical. In Europe, thinking about the environmental impact of packaging is a requirement, not a choice. Most European countries have take-back laws (EPR or Extended Producer Responsibility laws), which places the burden and cost of package disposal on the manufacturer. In 1991, 94
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REI,” said Michael Collins, REI’s vice president of public affairs. “Packaging is a place where we want that commitment and materials to come together. We’re looking at where our big impacts are, and at our consumption loop. We want to know what we purchase and where it comes from, and what happens when we’re done.” REI has just defined corporate social responsibility—defined as achieving commercial success in ways that honor ethical values and respect people, communities and the natural environment—and made it one of its core corporate values. Patagonia tries to give local markets what they need and balance that with Patagonia’s environmental commitment. And the company is open about the mistakes it made along the way. In the mid90s, Patagonia tried paper bags for packages for its Capilene base layers. “It was disastrous,” Hill recalled. “It got torn, it wasn’t reusable, there was lots of waste, and consumers couldn’t see the
product.” Patagonia is currently taking another look at its Capilene packaging in Europe where it is not in line with its core corporate environmental commitment. “Our Capilene packaging in Europe is a disgusting laminated box with an adhesive window,” Hill explained. “We are not satisfied or proud, but we are doing something about it.” Patagonia is developing a compostable package made from recycled newspaper to replace the box.
SOLUTIONS ARE AVAILABLE Creative, responsible packaging can save companies money, while minimizing the environmental impact on forests and rivers where we love to go adventuring. For example, Motorola developed an air cushion system to ship its silicone wafers; each cushion is reusable 25 times. This replaced singleuse, corrugated cardboard, and reduced breakage and shipping costs. Clif Bar eliminated the shrink wrap on its bulk production boxes, and saved not only 90,000 pounds of plastic per year, but also $445,000 annually. Teko socks recently proved that low-impact packaging doesn’t mean you won’t be noticed. The company received an award earlier this year from Communication Arts for its “green” packaging. Its socks come on 100-percent recycled tag board printed with soy-based inks, and no glue, staples or plastic. Heiden’s goal is to convert all of its transport packaging from poly bags to cardboard boxes, which contain a significant percentage of recycled content, by Sept. 1. The switch will lessen Teko’s environmental impact and make the socks easier for retailers to handle. “Marketing people always want something new and different,” said author Imhoff. “If the money spent on excessive packaging went into educating retailers and consumers about why a product has minimal packaging, we’d all be a lot better off. If a company puts standards first, they’ll end up with a healthy product with a strong story. Put marketing first, and you’re on a resource intensive path to wastefulness.” REI is taking initiatives on its own products, including ironed-on hangtag info applied directly to the back panel of some packs. It’s also switching to organic cotton for stuff sacks. GearTrends® only knows of one outdoor product that the manufacturer will take back from the consumer and recycle: Guyot Designs’ new “Meal Gear” line being introduced at Summer Market. In June, Guyot was sorting out the details of how consumers can return the nylon utensils to the company for regrinding. “The goal,” said Sloan Russell, president of Guyot, “is a closed loop system.” Because of the properties of nylon, the reground utensils can be reused without any degrading of » W W W. G E A R T R E N D S . C O M
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material. However, FDA regulations prohibit recycling a product that has been used for food into another product that will come in contact with food, so the nylon has to be recycled into another product. As this legal hurdle and the Patagonia brown bag fiasco illustrate, solutions aren’t always simple. “For example,” said Imhoff, “the idea of bio-based plastics is very appealing, but it’s a techno fix. There are 80 million acres of corn in the U.S.; there is a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico each summer from farm runoff. Conventional corn is intensively fertilized with petroleum-based chemicals, and corn farms are a heavily subsidized industry. It’s technology that has an appropriate place, maybe as a biodegradable coating for paper cups so that they can be recycled instead of trashed, but it’s not a panacea.” Guyot’s Russell said retailers still need a lot of education. “Many retailers are still looking for old materials whether or not they are toxic. Manufacturers like Patagonia and Guyot are committed to finding new and creative answers and sorting through the pros and cons of each solution,” he said. “There is a ramp-up period for any product that looks or feels new. But if you give people enough reason to use it, they will.” » SNEWS® is committed to communicating the Green Scene message. To read regular columns, go to www.snewsnet.com/greenscene.
GREEN CARD If you want to sell products in Europe, make your packaging “green.” The European Union has established a directive that between 55 percent and 80 percent of all packaging will have to be recoverable and recovered by 2008. The EU directive is based on six principles: » Material must be separable and recoverable, not just theoretically recyclable. » Degradable packages must be organically recoverable. » Packages that will be disposed of through incineration must burn safely and with measurable positive energy production. » Manufacturers must prove that a package solution can’t be smaller. » Packages must be free of noxious substance and hazardous materials. » Reusable packages must be specified wherever possible.
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