Sustainable is Good | Where design, lifestyle and packaging meet

Amazon Packaging Feedback

2009-11-17T06:24:00-05:00

Amazon has made tremendous progress in the last year regarding improving their packaging and making it more sustainable.

The online retailer introduced Frustration Free packaging which eliminates PVC clamshell style packaging in favor of plain customer friendly boxes with minimal excess.

Over the last year they have expanded Frustration Free packaging to more than 300 products and have shipped more than 1 million products in Frustration Free packaging according to a memo posted on Amazon's website from its founder Jeff Bezos.

Amazon has also done something revolutionary. They have created an extensive packaging feedback section where customers can rate the packaging of products they've ordered, post comments and even upload photos.

The Packaging Feedback section is available to customers and includes items they've recently ordered for ratings. I was impressed with the level of detail of the Packaging Feedback section. It is the first dedicated forum that I know of where customers can interact directly with a retailer regarding packaging.

Amazon says more than 115,000 customers have already more than 200,000 packages they've received.

Talus Outdoor Greens Its Packaging Continues Product Innovation

2009-11-12T06:33:00-05:00

A Colorado-based company Talus Outdoor Technologies makers of cutting edge Ski and outdoor masks recently changed their packaging to be more sustainable - a goal of the company's founder John Sullivan.

They eliminated the plastic bags used in their previous packaging for their Cold Avenger mask and switched to a box made with renewable energy that is recyclable and made here in the USA.

Sullivan found an ideal solution to his packaging needs from Chicago-based Salazar packaging.

"In my limited experience the operators of small businesses like mine do not have to turn their businesses upside down or spend a lot of money to make a real sustainable difference," Sullivan said.

"Although choosing to change our retail packaging is a major shift in both our environmental impact and our image from a graphic standpoint we did not have to make major changes in our business or product line."

Talus's Cold Avenger mask has received praise from outdoor enthusiasts including Backpacker magazine.

The Cold Avenger mask was updated for 2009 and is available online directly from the company or through a number of retailers.

Goodbye Detergent! Environmentally Friendly Cleaning Products

2009-11-05T06:38:00-05:00

Goodbye detergent! is a new line of environmentally friendly scrubs for your home, made with unique materials such as recycled corn cobs, peach pits, & walnut shells.

Of all the sustainable household products I've seen this year Goodbye detergent! are the most unique.

The products feature highly effective minimal packaging and each are made of unique materials based on their intended purpose. For instance a kitchen cleaning pad for anodized aluminum cookware made from walnut shells or a cleaning pad for enameled cookware made with pumice stones.

These reusable scrubs have natural abrasives that make it easier to clean with no detergents.

All of the scrubs and cleaning pads are made with natural abrasives and they come in 100% recycled packaging.

Goodbye detergent! scrubs reduce the need for detergents and soaps which contain toxins and chemicals that are bad for the environment.

These eco-friendly scrubs are designed by industrial designer Hiroki Hayashi.

All products are Made in Japan and have won international design awards since its world launch in 2008.

Products from Goodbye detergent! are available online at Amazon.com and other retailers.

Bogoi Coffee

2009-11-03T06:18:00-05:00

Amsterdam based designer Jop Quirindongo has created a package design for a sustainable coffee company that resembles the coffee bean itself. The concept for Bogoi coffee is that on one side, people want to drink the best quality coffee there is. But coffee farmers often still get underpaid for the beans they deliver.

Bogoi coffee will be biologically grown & cropped by farmers who get an honest price for their beans. To put it simple: it's a balance between honesty and quality. Like left & right side, like the symmetry of a coffee bean itself. This was the initial idea for the packaging.

Quirindongo said consumers would access the coffee by tearing open the colored strip on the front of the package. The packaging will me made of 100% recycled plastics.

GoGo squeeZ Applesauce

2009-10-27T06:25:00-04:00

GoGo squeeZ was launched in the US last year. I originally spotted them at Expo East in 2008 and was intrigued by their product design and packaging. They were back again this year and in just one year their product has taken off in the US market.

Using packaging originally designed for NASA, Menage a trios created the creative packaging design for the French applesauce company Materne makers of GoGo squeeZ.

Their product is a good one - 100 percent fruit no sugar added in a squeeze pouch. They make five flavors including two traditional applesauces, an apple peach, apple banana and apple strawberry.

Currently GoGo squeeze is available in about 1,900 supermarkets and children's retailers across the US. GoGo squeeZ 4-packs are available for MSRP $2.99. GoGo squeeZ single pouches are available for MSRP 99 cents.

Consumers can purchase GoGo squeeZ through Whole Foods, the natural section of supermarkets like Stop&Shop, Shaws and Jewel-Osco in select Toys ‘R Us/ Babies’ R US, and other select retailers across the US.

Energy Star Program Audit Find Problems with Ratings

2009-10-20T06:03:00-04:00

An audit finds problems with the Federal Government's Energy Star program.

The New York Times reported the Energy Department has concluded in an internal audit that it does not properly track whether manufacturers that give their appliances an Energy Star label have met the required specifications for energy efficiency.

Some manufacturers could therefore be putting the stickers on unqualified products, according to the audit, by the Energy Department’s inspector general, Gregory H. Friedman.

Due to differences in product rating standards Energy Star eligibility for certain types of products is determined by their manufacturers,

Teams from the Energy Department and the E.P.A. oversee different categories of products. Last December, the environmental agency’s inspector general said the Energy Star ratings for products it oversees, like computers and television sets, were “not accurate or verifiable” because of weak oversight by the agency.

Those shortcomings “could reduce consumer confidence in the integrity of the Energy Star label,” according to the department’s inspector general.

Thr Energy Department requires manufacturers of windows and L.E.D. and fluorescent lighting to have independent laboratories evaluate their products, the report said, companies that make refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, water heaters and room air-conditioners, which consume far more energy, can certify those appliances themselves.

If you are looking for electronics and are concerned about energy consumption stores like Crutchfield feature their own independent tests of energy usage for items they sell.

via New York Times