sustainable packaging

Living the Olympic dream. With 9 days to go before the world converges in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games we're in full swing to fulfill our commitments for 2010 Olympic partners. In November we were approached by our client Gameday Auction, an innovative sports memorabilia company based on Railway St in the Strathcona Green Zone, to help them design a sustainable packaging solution for a unique 2010 Olympic collectible, official replica jerseys (bibs), the same as the ones worn by the athletes during competition in the Games. A year ago they hired us to develop a sustainable corporate gift packaging solution for the Trevor Linden "Behind the Autograph" program and the rest has been history.

Trailblazing the road to sustainable packaging

If you think producing 100% post consumer recycled packaging is easy, think again! After much work with our various suppliers we were able to create 100% recycled (95% post consumer) gift boxes for the replica bibs. The vast majority of the cardboard packaging you'll see during the Games was produced by printing various gradients of blue directly onto bleached white cardboard. VANOC guidelines for using the Olympic logo and artwork stipulate that the logo must be displayed on a white background. From a sustainability perspective this was a very poor design decision as it meant to produce low cost packaging one had no choice but to use materials bleached with chlorine! We decided to print our artwork onto sheets of 100% FSC certified paper and glue that paper to recycled cardboard. We justified the additional costs to our client by not only the environmental benefits but also the value of creating a unique looking package that stands apart on the shelf. I brought in a great collegue of mine, Andy Maier of Courageous B who takes care of our graphic design, and we worked together to come up with solutions that work not only for our client but also that are feasible to produce with our suppliers. The bibs are being sold in the Olympic store at HBC and in the Athlete's Village (also in the Olympic venues during the Games) we're looking forward to seeing if they're a popular souvenir collectible. If you like collecting autographs the bibs are a really cool item as you can get them signed by athlete's during the Games and get them framed with photos and other things you collect during your stay in Vancouver and Whistler.

Lean manufacturing - implementing what I learned in business school

As we set up the assembly line to put together 3,000 bibs I implemented some of the lessons learned during my MBA in Sustainable Business at the Bainbridge Graduate Institute. Tact time is the amount of time it takes an individual to complete a task. If everyone's task takes the same amount of time then the assembly process flows without interruption. When one person's task is a lot faster than the others down the line, 'work in progress' stacks up and creates a 'bottleneck'. Check out the video of our team on Day 1 assembling the bibs, as I watched and timed each task it helped to figure out who should do what and how many people to put at the various stages. Although I'm a firm believer that there's a lot to learn from Toyota and lean manufacturing, at a small scale it really takes people to think on their feet, see where things are getting backed up and help out as they can to help keep the process flowing.

Carbon Neutrality - the Zero program at Hemlock Printers

The Hemlock Zero program offsets the carbon emitted during the full lifecycle of the paper manufacturing and transportation. Working with Offsetters, a leading industry carbon offset provider, the offsets help to support the development of renewable energy and clean technology projects which moves society towards a more sustainable future. If you're looking for a reputable and easy to use tool to calculate the environmental impact of your paper or cardboard project take a look at the Environmental Defence Fund's Paper Calculator site.

Lessons Learned - it's about more than profit

1. Project management - there's tremendous value in stepping back and looking at a project as a whole and having one person responsible for making sure all the details are in order. That way, one person can bring in all the people they need to get the job done as efficiently as possible.
2. Hold true to your values. Push the boundaries and create the solutions you want to see but understand that sometimes compromises have to be made to get the job done on time and on budget. Change happens in so many ways and it's important to be patient in leading the way. For example, even though we had sourced 100% recycled stickers we had to go with virgin stock product due to the long lead time needed to bring in the sustainable ones.
3. Business is more than about profit. Business is about relationships, this is how things get done. Not only from a production standpoint, thinking about how we were able to pull off tight timelines with our manufacturers and assembly crew, but also in closing the deal. It cost me money to pull off the original packaging solution for the Trevor Linden program, but because of it Gameday brought me in to help them with Olympic projects. Never compromise quality or service, that's what it's all about.

Over the last few months we've been working on a bunch of sustainable packaging projects for various clients leading up to the Olympics. Yesterday, Alex (Saul Good operations director) Andy Maier (Courageous B, graphic designer) and I had the pleasure of touring the facility of one of our packaging manufacturers. While cardboard packaging is nothing new, we were encouraged to see how the industry is finally moving towards offering 100% recycled options. For Saul Good, our involvement with this effort started over 3 years ago as part of a sustainable design project for our gift boxes. Now we've gained enough experience to become sustainable design consultants for a host of green packaging projects around the province.

100% can't be for everyone, but it's a great start

During the tour, we learned that if all the companies purchasing cardboard packaging went to 100% recycled materials we'd run out of supply within months. However, I'm of the belief that using and promoting 100% recycled packaging is a meaningful way to influence the market and promote change towards sustainable consumption. The more people who ask questions about the materials being used in products we consume, both in business and in our personal lives, the better chance we have as a society to address sustainability in a meaningful way.

Is it really green?

Chain of custody assurance is important as a way to have verifiable proof of your sustainability claim. On a recent project we collected shipping manifests, certificates of compliance and letters from suppliers down the supply chain to ensure the credibility of our recycled content claims. It really comes down to inventory management and inventory controls when looking for assurance that the materials received from suppliers are in fact the same being used in the production of your packaging. Using barcode scanning technology our supplier scans materials upon arrival in their facility and at every point in the manufacturing process. Because the dimensions of the product are customized to our specific job it would be impossible to mix our recycled materials up with virgin stock.

Post-consumer vs. pre-consumer waste

What does 100% recycled mean? Well, that depends on where the materials were recycled from. When paper is recycled post-consumer, referring to the fact that people use the material for something and then recycle it, it has considerably more environmental benefits compared to pre-consumer, or industrially recycled materials.  By recognizing this important distinction, we've ensured that our current project uses at least 94% recycled post-consumer materials compared to approximately the 20-30% used in conventional cardboard boxes.

What tools are there to help?

Environmental Defence has developed a fantastic calculation tool to quantify the environmental benefits of choosing recycled paper for your project. This is invaluable in communicating the value in sustainable packaging projects.

Over the last few months we've been working closely with Rachel at CocoaNymph on a line of specialy artisan nuts. Delicious and original these are a fantastic corporate gift to send to an office or to take to a dinner party. Easy to share, unique flavours, and damb tasty the nuts are the kind of thing you probably wouldn't buy for yourself but would be happy to enjoy.

Sustainable packaging

Each selection of nuts is packaged in a PLA biodegradable tub. PLA is derived from corn. Although corn is one of the most genetically modified crops in North America and debated given its requirements for water and fertilizers I think supporting the development of biodegradable packaging is worthwhile. With more and more people thinking about what happens to waste and packaging we raise awareness and people become more conscious consumers. This is the direction we need to go as a society. We sourced the packaging from Susanna at BSI Biodegradable Solutions, the go to source for sustainable packaging in Vancouver, BC.  100% recycled gift boxes round out the package for a great sustainable corporate gift.

Artisan specialty nuts

1. My favorite are the local Agassiz cocoa espresso covered hazelnuts. Damb. These are delicious morsels of goodness. There's not much out there in the market quite like these little treasures. Aggasiz hazelnuts are a high end quality product from the Lower Mainland, BC. Their unique shape make each little treat a little bit different.
2. Dark chocolate almond culsters with sea salt. The most popular nuts in our office these ones are hard to keep around. Sweet and savoury.
3. Caramalized walnuts in a balsamic reduction. Soft tangy goodness. Not something that you'd expect, truely nice flavour on this classic nut.
4. Candied spiced pecans. The first candied nut to come out from the CocoaNymph shop. Where it all began.

Gift boxes filled with the selection of 4 artisan nuts are priced at $40 from Saul Good.

Don't forget about the chocolate!

Rachel is a fantastic chocolatier! She's got a great selection of chocolate truffles and chocolate bars. CocoaNymph is a quaint shop up on 10th Ave West in Point Grey and is a happening little music venue on occasion. If you're in the neighbourhood check it out, grab a coffee or loose leaf tea, some chocolates and kick back. It's a good vibe. In the summer they've got some great natural ice creams as well.

Top 3 reasons CocoaNymph makes an excelent corporate gift

1. Easy to share. One of the key ingredients to a successful client gift sent to an office. An amazing product that everyone will get a taste of.
2. Local. Made fresh in Vancouver these gifts not only support a strong local economy but also local farmers.
3. Artisan. Delicious original unique creatations. You've got to try the cocoa covered espresso hazelnuts - fantastic!

When asked to source bathroom tissue for one of my clients I thought it would be easy to find a great product made from 100% post consumer recycled content.  I was wrong.  Lots of products and leading brands have family pack sizes but for individually wrapped product the options are pretty much nil.  Up to last fall there were a couple products on the market, Cascades, I believe Canada's largest recycled paper products companies, and Seventh Generation, our friends in Vermont who've been leaders in the green cleaning and household products industry.  After talking with my suppliers and sales reps it seemed as though the single wrapped products had been discontinued.

Wausau - recycled paper products

I had a feeling that Wausau had a product that would fit the bill.  With no info about it on their website I was a bit suspect but I started digging anyways, talked with their head office and send in some inquiries looking for distributors and info for this product.  Yesterday I got a call from a Baywest sales rep, they apparently distribute Wausau products in Vancouver, and got all the info I needed.  I found a couple local janitorial supply companies to buy it from as I I'd need to buy containers full of this stuff to meet the distributors minimums.  Turns out this product is green to the core, literally.  Even the paper core is made out of recycled fibres!  It's green seal certified, made from, wrapped with and around 100% recycled paper.

Where to buy?

Janitor's Warehouse at 100 SW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC - ph. 604.327.7708

SK Sanitary at 1841 Pandora St, Vancouver, BC - ph. 604.255.2727

Saul Good Gift Co - for green cleaning and new homeowners gifts - ph. 604.880.8398

Sustainable Packaging and Consumer Behaviour

Are you wondering why I had to source individually wrapped packages of bathroom tissue?  Why couldn't I just source large multi packs and use the rolls from there, saving a bunch of packaging materials.  The reason is consumer behaviour.  When people receive products like this they want assurance that it's clean and safe for them to use.  I do my best to use minimal and sustainable packaging in all our corporate gifts and promotions at Saul Good but understanding your market and consumer behaviour is all important to make it successful.  If people don't use it, for whatever reason, it didn't work.  Sometimes this means sacrifices but it's leading us in the right direction.