How green is your packaging?
There are many options when it comes to the packaging of the order you ship to your customers. Is the green and sustainable solution important for you?
There are many things to consider when it comes to packaging your orders. It is, of course, important that the items are packed properly - but should they also express something special? Or is packaging just a cost to be kept as low as possible? And what about the environment? Are you making any sustainable choices? There are plenty of opportunities and we’ll try to give you some good advice for your sustainability considerations, so that you can be a part of making a difference to the environment.
Recycled material
The most sustainable products for packaging are just as effective as the conventional products, so you can safely choose the green solution and still protect your shipments just the same! The best solution would naturally be to avoid plastic completely and, instead, use only paper tape and paper filling, but if you’re sending, for example porcelain, bubble wrap could still be the best solution. Choose a recycled product, so that you’ll still earn green points.
There are many options for buying sustainable packaging. Here we have borrowed some examples from Jakodan.
For example, use paper as a filler and paper tape:
Where does the packaging come from?
One option you can look at is buying from a local producer, as you’ll save the environment a lot of CO2 by not shipping across the globe. Another strategy might be to look at where the materials come from. If the packaging has an ”FSC” mark, you can be sure that the wood comes from a responsible supplier, that the forest is managed sustainably and that, in an FSC forest, no more is felled than can be regrown. FSC cares for the environment, for people and for their social needs. Look for the logo below, the next time you buy packaging.
How important are the looks of the parcel?
Colourful packaging is often an easy solution to express who you are as a company, to stand out from the rest of the parcels on the shelf in the parcel shop and also to make it a bit more exclusive. However, a red plastic shipping bag is far more resource-consuming for the environment than the normal natural-coloured products, as these are less harmful. One thing you can do is make your customers aware that the brown box is sustainable and, in this way, create value for customers who appreciate that. The looks and the sustainable choices your business makes are reflected in your brand. If you are selling organic products, sustainable packaging will help strengthen your brand. At the same time, you will live up to the notion of CSR, or corporate social responsibility, with respect to the environment, social conditions and the economy.
You can also find products with color made from recycled materials. These tapes from Jakodan are made from recycled plastic bottles:
Ship paperless
Are you enclosing an invoice, a return note and a return label for the customer? If you want to make your business greener, you can remove these from your orders. If the customer needs to return an item, you can set up a return portal where your customers can print a return note and return label for themselves. That way, only what is needed gets printed. Think about how much paper it will save the environment annually.
Are you sending a pro forma invoice and other product information for customs outside the EU? More and more carriers are offering to ship paperless, and sending all the relevant documents electronically. You are sparing the use of paper in the interests of the environment, as well as getting faster customs clearance, since they can start as soon as they receive the information electronically and not just when the package gets there.
As an example, at Shipmondo you can ship paperless with UPS, FedEx, DHL Express and GEODIS.
Greener packages
There are many ways a company can become more environmentally friendly - and one of them is also an increased focus on a greener package delivery.
If you want to reduce your CO2 footprint, you can now send greener packages with PostNord Denmark, DHL Freight, DHL Express and UPS through your own shipping agreements in Shipmondo. You can also send greener packages with PostNord Denmark through Shipmondos agreement. Respectively, you can choose Climate compensation, Skicka grönt (Send green), GoGreen or Carbon neutral when you book your shipment through Shipmondo. That way, you can support projects that compensate for the climate impact of your shipments.
