Packaging Sustainability

Introduction vii How To Use This Book ix The Making Of This Book x Giving Thanks xi Biographies xi Chapter 1 Taking the First Step 1 Consumption and Renewal 2 Choices, Choices, Choices 2 Underconsumption 4 Overconsumption 5 Restorative Consumption 6 Nearly All New Products Fail 8 What Does Change Look Like? 9 What Is Sustainability? 10 What Sustainability Is Not 10 Tearing Down the Tower of Babble 11 The Next Great Era of Design 12 How to Avoid Change 14 It’s the Other Guy’s Problem 16 Taking Responsibility and Thriving 17 Precautionary Principle 17 Hanover Principles 20 Kyosei 21 The Caux Round Table 22 The Triple Bottom Line 24 Transparency and Honesty 28 Ceres 28 A Taste of Things to Come 32 Making the Business Case 32 Packaging and Sustainability 34 Chapter 2 The Mechanics of Human Behavior 41 Chapter Themes 42 Sustainability 42 Attention 42 Zone of Acceptability 42 Expression of Individuality 42 Assumptions vs. Data 42 Inside the Consumer 43 What’s in Our Hearts (Or How We Don’t Think) 43 What’s in Our Minds (Or How We Do Think) 45 Other People (Or How Sensitive We Are to Social Cues) 50 Barriers to Action 55 The Nitty Gritty of Collecting Data 57 Wrapping It Up 58 Chapter 3 Marketing and Truth 61 The Consumer Relationship 62 Empowering the Consumer 62 Does the Selling Price Really Tell the Story? 63 Packaging Can Only Make Them Buy Once 64 Brand Loyalty 65 Ethics-Based Marketing and Business 65 Social Justice and Marketing 66 Co-op America’s Basics of Fair Trade 70 Package as Bridge or Barrier 71 What Is “Good” vs. “Great” Packaging? 71 Encouraging Consumer Choice 72 Thing or Service? 74 Eco-Labeling and Eco-Marketing Claims 74 Nutrition Facts Panel for a Healthier Planet 75 Carbon Labeling 77 Speaking the Truth, and Meaning It 78 TerraChoice: Six Sins of Greenwashing 82 FTC Green Guides 83 How to Get It Right 99 What Is “Need”? 99 Who Are the People Buying? 99 Moving Target 102 Timing Is Everything 103 The Package/Product Team 103 How to Create an Eco-Package in Three Easy Steps 104 Chapter 4 Laws and Economics 107 The Changing Landscape: Laws and Regulations 108 Producer Responsibility 108 Why Producer Responsibility for Packaging? 110 Producer Responsibility in the European Union 111 Regulations Around the Globe 112 Producer Responsibility in the United States 112 Producer Responsibility in Asia 112 Producer Responsibility in Canada 113 Producer Responsibility in Australia 114 A Path Forward 115 Unwrapping Global Packaging: Trade and Policy 116 The Scope of Globalization in Packaging 116 The Global Magnitude of Packaging 117 The Global Supply Chain and Materials Markets 117 The Global Purposes of Packaging 117 The Global Laws Affecting Packaging 118 The Scope of Global Trade in Packaging 119 Trade in Manufactured Packaging 119 Trade in Packaging Materials 123 Trade in Waste Materials 123 Summary of Facts on Packaging Trade 125 The Scope of Environmental Impact of Packaging 126 The Economics of Environmental Externalities 126 The Role of Government Policy 126 Optimal Policies 127 Looking Forward 129 Chapter 5 Systems Thinking 133 The Systems View 134 Universal Principles 135 Bridging the Gap with Systems 139 Systems Properties 140 Systems and Design 140 Package as a System 141 Adapt to the Environment 142 Properties of Systems 143 Boundary 143 Function 146 Feedback and Interchange 148 Levels 149 Taking Advantage of the Systems View 150 The Package/Product Team 151 Team Learning and Decision Making 151 Design Language 154 Using Systems Thinking in the Design Process 157 Biomimicry 158 Contain 158 Protect 161 Communicate 164 Mimicking Deep Principles 166 Go Outside! 168 Permaculture Principles in Design 169 Passive Permaculture Principles 170 Proactive Measures 172 Progressive Measures 174 Change Management 177 Technical Approaches 181 Industrial Ecology 181 Design Practice 183 ISO 14000 184 Life Is Cycles 185 The Eco-costs Approach 187 Systems Approaches 189 The Sustainable Packaging CoalitionSM 189 The SPC Approach 191 Definition of Sustainable Packaging 191 Design Guidelines from the SPC 192 The Natural Step Framework 197 The Next Level in the Picture 200 o2’s 5Rs of Great Design 201 The Wal-Mart 7Rs 204 Cradle to CradleSM 205 Product Design Perspectives 212 Your Nearest Advantage May Be Behind You 215 Innovation Heuristics 217 Design Rules 217 The Basics of Innovation 217 Ecological Design Principles 218 Design Mindfulness (Thackara) 219 Design Approaches 220 Chapter 6 Materials and Processes 223 Paper or Plastic? Neither! 224 What Are We Trashing? 226 Paper 229 Wood-Based Paper 229 Why What’s In Your Paper Matters 230 Alternative Papers 232 Plastics 235 Nonrenewable Plastics 235 Biobased/Renewable Plastics 237 Metals 243 Aluminum 243 Steel 243 If It Can’t Be Grown, It Must Be Mined 244 Glass 251 Energy Changes Everything 252 Understanding Energy 254 Carbon Accounting 255 Printing 257 The Wonderful World of Waste 261 The Economic and Environmental Benefits of Recycling 261 Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Waste 262 Chapter 7 Innovation Toolbox 267 Eco-Packaging In Three Easy Steps 268 Definition of Sustainable Packaging 268 Consumer’s Shopping List for Positive Change 269 Innovation Heuristics 269 Fair Trade Essentials 275 Overview of Environmental Marketing Claims 276 Eco Seals, Certifications, and Claims 277 Materials Choices at a Glance 283 Eco-Resources at a Glance 284 Glossary of Basic Packaging Terminology 288 Select Bibliography 320 Notes By Chapter 324 Index 336