Packaging Responsibly

As a whole, whether commercial, packaging, in-plants, or publishing, the printing industry has embraced the concept of sustainability. For instance, this magazine is printed by a company which has received FSC certification. But in an era where we as a country are taking great pains to ensure our natural resources remain plentiful, we are specifying DVD sleeves that don’t add any value to what’s inside. Instead of making sure this packaging can be recycled (one component of sustainability) shouldn’t we be questioning the need for such packaging in the first place? Consumer product companies (CPCs) ought to be thinking about not only developing packaging that is sustainable, but is also useful. To truly be sustainable, you should package responsibly, and it seems to me these DVD sleeves are the opposite, unless I’m missing something. They are consuming natural resources for seemingly no reason. They border on being a waste of paper. When it comes to espousing sustainability, actions will often speak louder than words, and ordering packaging that doesn’t satisfy a need speaks volumes about how CPCs really feel about sustainability. pP