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Sustainable packaging materials, they’re essential. Packaging should be the first process businesses look at when streamlining sustainability within the supply chain.
It’s incredibly easy to implement, and with more and more suppliers offering sustainable packaging options it’s hard to believe that there are brands out there that aren’t making eco-friendly packaging adjustments to their supply chains.
Many businesses don’t have the luxury of insight into their packaging process. But really, they should. For e-commerce businesses, every product you sell has to be shipped in some form of packaging. With an estimated 12 million – 24 million eCommerce sites across the entire globe, the volume of packaging to accommodate these sites is something we desperately need to be conscious of.
Here are 6 sustainable packaging materials your business needs to be using to streamline sustainability and win over consumers.
Before we get onto the exciting stuff, let’s start with given: recycled cardboard and paper. Not much explanation is needed here. Switching out your usual cardboard and paper packaging for recycled cardboard and paper means you’re not exhausting virgin materials from our rainforest. Instead, you are reusing what we have made previously. Not only that, but, if you can use it as an alternative to plastic, it will always be the better choice.
Cardboard and paper use has drastic impacts on the environment. It’s estimated that around 165 billion packages are shipped in the U.S. each year. The cardboard used for these parcels would equate to more than 1 billion trees. That’s statistics for just 1 years worth of packaging. 1 country out of 195, and 1 portion of the total eCommerce shipping volumes.
If we continue to ignore even this simple effort, we unnecessarily destroy the world around us. Paper and cardboard are the easiest on this list to recycle and source. So if you are to make any effort at all, start here.
ONE TRIBE ADVICE: Keep an eye out for materials marked as FSC-certified. They are sourced from sustainably managed forests meaning you can identify which materials are guaranteed 100% eco-friendly.
We are all familiar with packing peanuts, and I think it’s fair to say we have all, at some point, been incredibly irritated by them. The fluttery styrofoam flakes are actually detrimental to our environment.
EPS (expanded polystyrene foam) or styrofoam material is not biodegradable or recyclable. When it enters our landfills, it piles up there for years on end.
However, it doesn’t just sit as one giant styrofoam mountain. Instead, it slowly chips away and enters our waterways. Polluting our oceans and enticing marine life to consume the toxic plastic for dinner.
The issue has been so detrimental over the years that New York City recently declared a ban on styrofoam containers and packaging. The movement has spurred the production of biodegradable packing peanuts as a solution.
The peanuts can protect goods in the same way as their styrofoam counterparts, without the devastating environmental impact. You can readily buy biodegradable packing peanuts online, from nearly any packaging retailer. Or simply ask your packaging suppliers about the eco-friendly options they have available.
Since bubble wrap is made from plastic it is not an eco-friendly material. So it’s problematic to have no alternative to plastic bubble wrap, our primary source of protective packaging for fragile items.
However, like biodegradable packing peanuts, modern developments are being made to recreate sustainable variants of traditional packaging. The result here is corrugated bubble wrap.
Corrugated bubble wrap is made from up-cycled corrugated cardboard. Rather than disposing or recycling cardboard waste, it is recycled to form a durable cushioning material. Similar to the texture of bubble wrap, small grids are cut into the material to produce the same cushioning effect which protects against shock.
It’s a great option for heavy-duty eCommerce products and using it reduces landfill waste, air pollution, water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and protects trees from being unnecessarily harvested.
You may have seen more companies using inflatable air pillows. The huge puffy balloons that look like the Michelin man used your parcel box as a wardrobe. Yes, they are inflated plastic, which we wouldn’t usually advocate on an eco-friendly list, but they are often made from a recyclable plastic material with new innovations being made to combat the issues surrounding plastic waste.
The best option for air pillows on the market right now is Opus Bio Air Pillows. They are the first-ever packaging pillows that are both recyclable and biodegradable- something most plastics aren’t. Opus Bio Air Pillows are a great protective packaging option thanks to their durability and versatility.
They come in a variety of sizes which means the right size is ideal for filling voids in boxes and providing cushioning. On top of that, they’re a lot less hassle than bubble wrap or packing peanuts, while still providing the same, if not better, level of protection.
It sounds strange, but this cheap, eco-friendly packaging material is a perfect solution to both agricultural waste and unsustainable packaging materials. The cardboard-esque material is made from ground mushrooms fused together with mushroom roots, otherwise known as mycelium. Once manufactured and dried, the packaging can be molded into pretty much any shape desired.
Mushroom packaging, despite its weird and unusual concept, is one that all businesses should consider using in their packaging process. Not only does this material cease food waste, but it’s also rapidly biodegradable, non-toxic, low energy consumption, low co2 emitting, and compostable from home.
With 88% of consumers asking for businesses to help them make a difference, it looks like an easy solution that benefits both you and your consumers.
Seaweed packaging is made from a gelatinous substance called agar, also referred to as agar-agar (which surprisingly can also be used to make vegan-friendly gelatinous foods like jelly).
It’s a strange concept to get our heads around. How does a wet, gooey substance transform into a useful packaging product? Through innovative sustainable genius. Seaweed packaging can be made to form plastic-like packaging, cardboard-like packaging and can even be shaped to make products like mini capsules.
Notpla is an ethical brand that makes a range of biodegradable seaweed packaging with their first product being the “edible water bubble”. An incredible feat of engineering has led them to work with the likes of Lucozade to produce edible sports gels, edible sauce sachets, and edible cocktail bubbles.
The benefit of all this is that if you don’t feel adventurous enough to eat the unique packaging, the sachet is easily biodegradable meaning you can chuck it into your food waste like all other edible things!
Sure, we can safely admit that packaging hasn’t been a priority for most businesses. But our blasé attitude toward packaging in the past has resulted in extreme pile-ups in landfill sites we might never be able to overcome if we don’t start looking into greener alternatives.
With rising demands from consumers to businesses to start using sustainable packaging materials, it’s an effort that won’t go unmissed. Smart business owners know that although trends have lifespans, their popularity results in a demand that tests time.
Speak to your packaging providers, supply chain managers, or even source sustainable packaging materials yourself via online retailers. One Tribe’s mission is to provide guidance on exactly how to overcome deforestation and other deadly environmental practices.
Our checklist is a great tool to help you keep on track with your efforts. Download the free guide here.
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One Tribe is a Climate Action Platform enabling businesses and their customers to make a positive environmental impact.
Eric currently works as an independent consultant at the intersection of nature and climate, focused on catalysing market and non-market solutions to drive the just transition.
He previously was Head of Product at Earthshot Labs, supporting nature conservation and restoration projects across the global south secure project finance. Prior to Earthshot Labs, Eric led nature-based carbon project development for Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique and founded the Carbon Cooperative, a global alliance of leading nature conservation and restoration practitioners exploring carbon finance. After serving in the Peace Corps in Mozambique out of university, he spent much of his 20s working in community-based conservation and ecosystem restoration efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa interspersed with two startup ventures as co-founder and CEO of a mental health tech startup and COO of a sustainable coffee company. Eric has a dual Masters in Environmental Engineering and Environmental Policy from Stanford University where he was a NSF Graduate Research Fellow and a BS in Environmental Engineering from Tufts University.
Alan is a risk management thought-leader, superconnector, and FinTech pioneer. His mission is to enable an Earth Positive economy which includes nature in global accounting systems.
Alan is Founder of Generation Blue, a venture studio dedicated to planetary game changers powered by exponential technologies. Previously, Alan established Natural Capital Markets at Lykke AG, pioneering blockchain based forestry and carbon backed tokens. Alan has over two decades of risk management experience advising global financial institutions, and was a founding member of the RiskMetrics Group, a JPMorgan spin-off. Alan is an investor and advisor to regenerative impact ventures, including TreeBuddy.Earth, Regenativ, and Vlinder Climate.
Lori Whitecalf made history when she became the first woman to be elected Chief of Sweetgrass First Nation in 2011. She served three terms of office from 2011-2017.
Lori took a two-year hiatus from leadership to expand the family ranch and serve as the FSIN Senior Industry Liaison. She was re-elected on November 29. 2019 and again on November 30, 2021, as Chief of Sweetgrass. Chief Whitecalf practises a traditional lifestyle of hunting, fishing and gathering. She currently sits on the following boards: Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology, FSIN Lands and Resource Commission, Battle River Treaty 6 Health Centre and Battleford Agency Tribal Chiefs Executive Council, FSIN Women’s Commission.
Tina is the Chief Business Officer for MLTC Industrial Investments, the Economic Development arm of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council. She has a diverse background of experience. Having spent 15 years as a municipal Chief Operating Officer, 20 years involved in Saskatchewan’s Health Authority Board Keewatin Yatthe and 9 years with Northern Lights Board of Education.
She continues as a Board Member with Beaver River Community Futures supporting small business development in her home region. Tina brings a wealth of experience in a variety of fields and many connections to the Indigenous communities of Northern Saskatchewan. In addition Tina holds a BA Advanced from the U of S, a Certificate in Local Government Authority from the U of R and is certified as a Professional Economic Developer for Saskatchewan and a certified Technician Aboriginal Economic Developer (TAED).
Tootoosis’ career spans 40+ years in HRM, political leadership, and Indigenous economic development, as a dedicated bridge builder and advocate for Indigenous causes.
As a key member of the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority (SREDA) team since 2021, he develops strategies for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report and Call to Action #92.
He is a graduate of the First Nations University of Canada and a certified Professional Aboriginal Economic Developer. Spearheading various community initiatives while serving as a Chair of the SIEDN while directing ILDII and WIBF. Founder of MGT Consulting Tootoosis is based in Saskatoon, Treaty Six Territory.
Cy Standing (Wakanya Najin in Dakota) has a long and distinguished career including serving overseas as an Electronics Technician in the Royal Canadian Air Force, former Chief of Wahpeton Dakota Nation, former Vice Chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indigenous Nations (FSIN), past Executive Director of Community Development Branch of the Department of Northern Saskatchewan as well as an Order in Council appointment to the Federal Parole Board.
Mr. Standing has served as a Director on many Profit and Non-Profit Corporate Boards, including serving as a Director for Affinity Credit Union with assets of over six billion dollars as well as IMI Brokerage and Wanuskewin and is currently a member of the One Tribe Indigenous Carbon Board.
