Picking Your Priorities: Balancing Sustainability and Ethics in Product Packaging

40% of plastic used in packaging is sent to landfills where it stays for thousands of years, all the while causing damage to the environment. The severity of the issue has compelled millennials to push for brands to become environment-friendly.

In fact, by taking the issue to social media, individuals have begun boycotting brands and products that convey problematic values. This shift toward ethical and sustainable packaging has taken the industry by a storm and now multiple high-end brands are preparing themselves to make this shift.

Why should your company participate?

The packaging of a product coveys the message that the brand stands for, and the causes it represents. In order to convince the customers to buy the products, marketers often make use of misleading labels and messages that promise something that the product can’t deliver.

An example of using misleading information is claiming that a product is 100% fat-free or 100% organic. In the business world, selling your products and making profits is important, but so is creating meaningful and trustworthy relationships with the customer.

While the false claims may make a customer buy the product for the first time, with practices like these, generating brand loyalty is next to impossible.

What steps should you take?

One thing to consider if you’ve decided to transform your packaging to make it sustainable is to start small. There’s no need to discard all your packages at once. You can start by ordering samples to inspect the quality of the packaging.

Once that’s done, consider a redesign of the product image and prepare your launch. Gaining traction for it on social media is relatively easier so that’s where you can begin if your company wants to start small. Lastly, adjust the pricing according to the material you’ve purchased.

Giving back to the community

It’s important for brands to understand that their businesses are successful because of the customers. As such, it’s become a duty for companies to respect the community by supporting them. Using packaging that conveys the values of the brand, such as inclusivity, transparency, gender equality, peace and education are some of the ways through which brands can extend their gratitude to the community.

Companies that take the easy way out might be thriving right now, but companies that have incorporated ethical and sustainable packaging are the flag-bearers of tomorrow.

Increased awareness among the customers about environmental and social issues is likely to sway their attitudes toward buying products from companies that present a sound front when it comes to communicating values.

Check out Premium Vials’ wholesale packaging collection today. Browse through our glass jars, roll tubes, and mylar bags, and embark on this journey with us!