5 Innovative Packaging Ideas That Could Help Save The Planet

by N/A, 9 years ago | 1 min read

| 483

Americans throw away more than 70 million tons of packaging material each year. Aaron Mickelson decided that was way too much, and created a way to greatly reduce, or even eliminate, the amount of waste for some popular products.

waste Design packaging Non-Premium

Mickelson chose five products to create new packaging for; tea bags, garbage bags, laundry detergent, kitchen containers and bar soap.

Glad Trash Bags

Glad's bags traditionally come in a cardboard box that isn't very useful once you open it. Mickleson decided to print everything that would be on the box on the outside of the bag instead. Bags are then pulled from the center.

The last bag used is also the wrapper of all the other bags, so there is no waste at the end of the day.

Tide Laundry Pods

These detergent pods currently come in a plastic bag that in the end simply gets thrown away in the end. The new pods would be stitched together in a perforated sheet so you can pull one off at a time.

All the information about the product is printed on the sheet, and you throw the whole pod into the wash. The inks are all water-soluble, so they dissolve in the wash, just like soap dyes. In the end, there is no packaging to throw away, it's all been washed away.

Twinings Tea Bags

Most bagged teas are stapled to a string and then wrapped in wax paper and then put in a cardboard box, creating a lot of waste at the end of the day. The new packaging eliminates the outer box by putting the bags in a cardboard sleeve and then gluing them together.

There will still be some waste, Mickleson says there will be with almost any food product, but it's reduced by using the sleeve the tea comes in also becomes the hanging tag.

Nivea Bar Soap

Pretty much all bar soap comes in plastic boxes that have absolutely no use once you get into the shower. The new packaging looks similar, but is a septic-safe, water-soluble paper that dissolves once you get into the shower.

OXO POP Containers

All the details about the brand and what is supposed to be stored in each container is currently printed on paper that gets thrown out when you use the containers.

The new containers would have all that information printed on them in ink that you wash off.

Since it's used for food storage, you'll want to wash it anyway, and the soap-soluble ink will wash away in the first wash.