Sustainable Filmless Packaging and Alternate Packaging Solutions - Essay Example

Sustainable Filmless Packaging Packaging, specifically in cartons, usually uses metalized film lamination to give off a glossy and shimmery effect as part of product presentation and marketing. The glossy design usually involves bringing the paperboard, the primary material of cartons, to two printing press technologies in separate locations. One technology is for the holographic film lamination and the other one is for the metallic printing of the paperboard. Such a supply chain is simplified when GlaxoSmithKline, the company who makes Aquafresh toothpaste, has brought the two technologies together to be generated in a single printing press technology.

Specialized Packaging Group provided the filmless holographic press technology while Henkel North America provided the metallic coating technology. Aside from the simplified supply chain, the merging of the two technologies also lessened the productions costs through the printing of cartons in a single pass only. Carbon emissions are also lessened because of having just one printing press instead of two, and the transferring of the cartons from area to another is eliminated. And due to the new coating technology, the cartons can be printed on-demand, thus, eliminating long wait periods.

The quality of the colors and metallic sheen are not put into risk because the new coating technology contains aluminum flakes that give of a bright shine for the toothpaste’s packaging. Added to that is the more sustainable attributes that the new coating has. The Packaging Digest Magazine has provided vast and quality information regarding latest trends in sustainable packaging. The information regarding Aquafresh is the latest in sustainable packaging technology discussed in the online magazine and can be the technology to be followed.

This technology is only a start of such sustainable packaging innovations and can be applied not only to cartons but hopefully to other packaging materials, as well.Alternative Packaging Solutions In the midst of the conventional packaging solutions prevalent in the markets today, alternative packaging solutions have been gaining recognition in sustainable packaging designs. Such solutions use biodegradable paper or discarded agricultural products that could easily be composted or reused. One example of such alternative packaging solutions is the carton used by Cargo Cosmetics in their lipsticks products.

The carton is made of biodegradable paper embedded with real wildflower seeds. Instead of trashing the carton upon purchase of the lipstick, the consumer can moisten the carton and plant it in the garden and the wildflower seeds will sprout from it. The product not just gives color to the lips but also color to the environment. Another example is the packaging made by Distant Village Packaging wherein their custom packages are made from agricultural products such as banana leaves, banana fibers from trunks and stems, or waste materials from the forest floor and food production lines that could otherwise be discarded.

Such alternative solutions reuse the materials that have already been made, recover materials that could have been thrown away, lessen the amount of non-compostable packaging, thus, further reducing environmental footprints. Specifically with the first example, the innovative use of a material that nourish again Mother Earth is a great product marketing and makes reusing fun and creative. With sustainable packaging the responsibility of designers, it is just apt that the information on this essay are based from an article posted on the Dynamic Graphics + Create website, which is an online graphics design magazine sourcing out creative information about design and creativity.

Works CitedHartman, Lauren. “A Shining Move to Sustainability.” Packagingdigest.com. October 1, 2009. Web. Oct. 26, 2009. Saville, Laurel. “Creating More Sustainable Packaging.” dynamicgraphics.com. Dec 2007. Web. Oct. 25, 2009.