The move towards sustainability has been underway for many years now. But it can still feel opaque and abstract to brands – exactly how do they put it into practice? No brand wants to risk looking tokenistic, or worse, accused of greenwashing.
A client discussing the topic with us confessed that compared to consumer needs like price, quality and product design, sustainability was difficult to quantify. Unless you’re in the energy category, or directly producing carbon dioxide, it can feel hard to find relevant and genuinely impactful ideas.
Packaging is an area where many brands could make a difference. With more deliveries going to more people than ever before, there are abundant opportunities to make changes.
One Unordinary Idea we’ve seen is substituting silica desiccant bags for paper ones filled with clay particles. This move to a natural solution couldn’t be more sustainable – just mix the clay into your garden or window box. There’s still some way to go – we’re waiting for a more sustainable idea than polystyrene, for example. And many brands still have a habit of putting boxes in boxes, reducing sustainability by increasing redundancy.
But these sorts of changes, multiplied by every product delivery, can become meaningful. For many brands, sustainability means sweating the small stuff.
