Creating a More Sustainable World Starts With Adorable Egg Crates

In our very consumption-driven society, there is no way to avoid product packaging. It straps down our kids' toys, it's on our grocery-store shelves, it's wrapped around our new tech gadgets. And it's often the first thing in the trash. With a little attention, however, reducing waste and energy while increasing overall sustainability in packaging is possible, and these products prove it.

Happy Eggs is an egg packaging idea created by Maja Szczypek. The packaging is made from hay, a natural and renewable resource that grows quickly. Happy Eggs' production process is completely sustainable, utilizing heat-pressing to form the hay. 

The project made it to the finals of Lodz Design Festival contest, make me!  in 2013.

This paper bag, designed by Depot WPF, contains seeds from a variety of plants built into its structure! Wherever it's thrown away, it will eventually disintegrate and turn into beautiful plants. The alternative plastic bags take around 1,000 years to decompose. 

EcoBag won bronze in the Epica 2011 Awards.

This environmentally-friendly package was designed by Mongkol Praneenit for some of General Electric's high-end lightbulbs.

The package is designed using durable recycled materials, with a color scheme evocative of environmental design. The structure was designed for easy transport and stocking. 

This genius packaging design is brought to us by designer, Jessica Ma. The package allows you to transport an entire meal in one convenient carrying case. The design includes an educational game (especially convenient if you're someone who tends to eat lunch alone). The concept behind the packaging is to minimize the amount of material, therefore also minimizing cost and pollution during the production and transportation stages.

This design is specifically created for wholesale dried fruits and nut market vendors to use for their daily bulk sales. The bag is made from sacks that distributors use to deliver the fruits to the market. These sacks are usually disposed of by vendors, so using the material minimizes the amount of waste. It was created by Monica Lopez and Gloria Kelly.

The Mug Pub is a chain of pubs based in Moscow. This design is a concept for a beer carrying case for their in-house brew. The beer is stowed in paper cups, rather than traditional glass or aluminum. It was designed by Ivan Maximov.

Morning Ritual is a line of organic strained yogurt. All items include a 100% bamboo bowl, plus a nifty spoon and napkin made out of organic cotton and hemp.

Sue Bee Honey is an American brand of honey that was started by a group of five beekeepers out of Iowa. The eco-friendly jar is made from acacia and teak wood, sourced from managed forests. The center of the jar includes a rope handle, which acts as the product lid and allows you to minimize messes. These were designed by Ashley Gustafson.

This paint packaging solution is a nearly 100% compostable package, designed with transportation efficiency in mind. The paint is stored inside a bladder made from domestically-recyclable plastic, and is practical for carrying heavy liquids.The bladder is contained inside a recycled cardboard, 100% biodegradable moulded shell that takes the form of a bottle with handle. After its use, it will compost back into the ecosystem. The design is by Matthew Blick.

The 360 Paper Water Bottle is a single-serve bottle made from 100% sustainable sheet stock such as bamboo and palm leaves. The design is self-bundling, so it includes multiple bottles in order to eliminate the need for separate six-pack packaging. The tear-off top is capable of being resealed. The innovator behind this game-changing design is Jim Warner.