Diamond Box’s Guide to Great Sustainable Packaging in 2020

Unless you’ve been living under a particularly well-sheltered rock, you’ll be aware that green initiatives and sustainability have become extremely hot topics almost anywhere we look these days. With the advent of climate change and growing concerns over the long-term protection of resources businesses and individuals in virtually all sectors and industries are being watched carefully when it comes to their contribution to global warming and their carbon footprint.

It’s essential that we, in our businesses, do everything we can to be environmentally-friendly. Whether that be from the work processes in the office, to the packaging used by suppliers. Here’s a helpful guide to sustainable packaging and how our businesses can introduce it to help be a little kinder to the world we live in.

What Is Sustainable Packaging?

When it comes to sustainable packaging, many will often associate it with being part of anything that’s ‘green’. That usually means packaging that is degradable, non-toxic, or refillable. In order for a material to be sustainable, it needs to meet a long list of criteria in order to make the cut. This is usually sourced from materials that are healthy for the environment during the lifecycle of its existence. So unlike plastic, which is harmful to the environment after it’s been disposed of. It needs to have been manufactured using clean technologies that help to optimise materials and energy so that it’s not damaging the environment too much. It needs to be transported efficiently to reduce fossil fuels, and it also must be recyclable so that it can be reused again and again.

Trying to achieve sustainable packaging can often be difficult with these criteria, but thankfully, there are businesses in the UK and beyond that have managed to make sustainable packaging options affordable and usable for businesses across the globe. At Diamond Box we pride ourselves on our efforts to help our clients become more environmentally friendly businesses which has come about as a result of putting sustainability at the heart of everything we do.

Why it’s Needed

There are many obvious upsides to implementing sustainable packaging in your delivery process, and as a business-minded person you’ll also no doubt be pleased to hear that financial benefits are chief among them.

Firstly, you get to reap the benefits of being a forward-thinking environmentally conscious business. Consumers are putting their money where their mouths are more than ever in 2020, using consumer activism and boycotts to influence the way products are made, packaged, shipped, and delivered. So staying ahead of the curve on sustainability is a good way to not only ensure sales keep flowing with your usual audience, but also to open yourself up to those who are looking for businesses that are helping keep carbon footprints as light as possible for consumers. Your packaging is one of the many factors that impact the carbon footprint, and it’s essential to try and reduce it where you can and however you can.

And as an overall consideration, why not try to make the environment a more pleasant place to live in? Fewer landfill sites inevitably mean less pollution, and more space for resources that can help improve the climate of our planet. It’s important to remember that if action isn’t taken now, we could be irreversibly impacting the environment for future generations who will be living in the world we leave behind.

How You Can Take Action With Sustainable Packaging

So how can you as a business, take action with sustainable packaging? It’s worth speaking to your suppliers directly to see whether they are FSC accredited. This ensures that your supplier is purchasing raw material from sustainable sources. Looking at re-engineering packaging to reduce the amount of raw material used is also a good idea. Our design team at Diamond Box can assist with this process.

If you'd like to discuss using sustainable packaging as part of your supply chain process, contact us now on 0121 505 2211, or on email at sales@diamond-box.co.uk