Yet another bag

Plastic bags are everywhere. Go into any shop, buy something and you are given yet another plastic bag. You carry your purchase home - then dump the bag in the rubbish. We can all help by taking a shopping bag out with us as previous generations always did. In this country, IKEA has become the first major store to phase out the use of 'use-once' bags and Modbury in South Devon became Britain's first plastic bag free town. Australia has made the decision to phase out flimsy plastic bags by next year. In this country there are various campaigns to banish the plastic bag and it is inevitable that sooner or later there will be some constraints on the use of them.

So what are the alternatives?

There are a number of biodegradable bags on the market. Reading through the more technical literature, it is clear there are many differences between them. Some break down easily but can contribute methane; others take longer to break down and can still be a hazard to wildlife if left littering the landscape. The alternative is buy reusable bags. Inevitably these cost more so you may have to take the decision to charge for them, though if you have them overprinted with your shop details at least you are promoting your business.

“We use plastic bags very sparingly,” says Debbie Homer Davis of The Baby Lady. “You need to be pro-active asking 'do you need a bag' rather than automatically using one. We have ours printed with the shop details and the next time we need to order we'll be looking very carefully at alternatives. However, the number of plastic bags is small compared with the amount of cardboard. So we always ask the customer whether they want the box. If not, we can recycle it here.”

For protection

However, we cannot simply do away with all packaging. Some products need protection. One such example is cots and furniture. “We need to ensure that our products arrive at their final destination in a good condition,” says Phil Ludlow Smith of Saplings of Shropshire. “Poor packaging can be a false economy but getting it right can be very difficult. Everyone in this market has had problems. The packaging has to stand the test of being handled in loading bays and possibly being dropped. We estimate that each of our packages is picked up and put down at least six times in the journey from here to the consumer. We now use a double walled and double fluted card and some clever designs to ensure the products are not damaged if the package is abused. The cost of packaging is soaring. Increases of 12 to 15% over the last year are not uncommon but at Saplings we are concerned with the environmental impact and we ensure that all our packaging can be recycled by the consumer and all the packaging from the warehouse is recycled.”

For Information

The packaging is also a very important selling tool for many products.

The bright colours catch a customer's eye. The pictures tell her what the product is. “Packaging design is almost as important as the product itself," says Dean Tollman of Vital Baby. “Packaging design is a balancing act where the correct amount and type of information must be included without compromising on good looks and attractiveness.

Too much information can be overwhelming and potentially confusing to the consumer but at the same time too little information can result in the benefits of the product not being communicated correctly and potentially result in a lost sale. It is not just text that you can use to communicate your message, design layout and the use of colour is also very important. As many of you will know, with our range of Vital Baby feeding accessories, we use colour to distinguish between products that are suitable for use at different stages of baby's development. This helps mums and dads know, at a glance, what product is right for their baby at any particular age/stage in their development, making their retail experience easier and less stressful.

The size of retail packaging must always be taken into account. Packaging that is too large could result in your product not fitting into retailers available shelf space whilst packaging that is too small may effect the products attention grabbing abilities in the retail environment."

Packaging as part of the product

The packaging can also be part of the product. A gift is more than the item itself. It is also the presentation. Tolo Baby has a gift range where the toy is in a beautiful, high-quality, rigid box. John Crane explains: “Putting something in a quality box gives added value. If it is wrapped in tissue paper it becomes so much more exciting - it makes the gift.

This sort of packaging can add significantly to the price but because it has a much higher perceived value, retailers can even increase their margins.”

Going Green

Whatever the reason for packaging, there are still many ways in which green thinking can be built in. By the end of next year 55% of all packaging waste must be recycled and large companies will have to take responsibility of funding recycling schemes. Nobody wants to spend more money than they have to and, surprisingly enough, it is often possible to save money by 'designing waste out' of packaging. And the Government will help. Envirowise delivers a government-funded programme of free, confidential advice to UK businesses enabling them to increase profitability and reduce their environmental impact. They can help re-design packaging, not only ensuring it is fit for the purpose but also reducing the amount of raw material used to produce it. Find out more about DesignTrack and Envirowise by phoning the Envirowise Advice Line on 0800 585794.