Article: Excessive Product Packaging
A lot of products have excessive amounts of packaging. This packaging protects the product and represents the brand, but is it really necessary to have two or three layers? Improvements in product development, including packaging, could help establish sustainable development and living. For example, eco-design could be applied to packaging; asking questions on what materials are used, how the packaging is manufactured, how it is used and how it is disposed. Eco-design of a product and its packaging is intended to not only enhance environmental conservation but save long-term production costs. Lots of packaging requires more materials and resources to manufacture it, so it costs more. Friends of the Earth Development manager Janet Fok said we "should start with prevention - avoid waste products at the source" That means cutting back on packaging, which would save time, money, and the environment.
This article was interesting. Our first step to establish a sustainable economy should be to reduce the amount of packaging; reducing carbon dioxide emissions as less power and fuel is used for production and transportation. Also, the government needs to get involved for this to happen too. Even with companies and people working together, manufacturers and consumers are not enough, and are often limited by cost considerations. They could provide incentives for companies that use less packaging, or for people to recycle their used packaging. Japan, one of the greenest consumer societies, coerces producers and consumers to pay attention to the amount of packaging produced and disposed using taxes and penalties. There are laws in multiple countries that encourages recycling and limits the number of layers in packaging. Another good idea is to implement the User Pays principle, which places responsibility of disposal and recycling on manufacturers and customers since they're directly responsible for the product. There are a lot of ways that we could be reducing waste, but we're not doing them. As one of the biggest consumer and manufacturer countries in the world, it's our job to take action. We shouldn't have to wait for our waste to start piling up until we have nowhere else to put it to do something about it. It's time for us to take action now, while we still have time.
- Sustainable development and living elicits improvements in product development, including packaging
- Packaging protects product and represents the brand
- Eco-design can be applied to packaging; asking questions on what materials are used, how the packaging is manufactured, how it is used and how it is disposed
- Eco-designs of a product and its packaging is intended to not only enhance environmental conservation but save long-term production costs
- Excessive packaging needs more materials and more resources to manufacture, so it costs more
- "Naturally excessive packaging are physically larger and heavier which place greater burden on logistics, thus incurring higher financial and environment costs"
- The nature of product packaging makes it difficult to properly recycle, so the waste is most likely to end up in landfills
- "Excessive packaging is only one aspect of a much larger environmental problem that is facing Hong Kong, however like all environmental problems it basically comes down to minimizing wastes. So we should start with prevention - avoid waste products at the source", says Friends of the Earth Development manager Janet Fok
- The first step towards a sustainable economy is reducing the amount of packaging, which would reduce carbon dioxide emissions as less power and fuel is used for production and transportation
- Government intervention is necessary; producers and consumers initiatives are not enough and most are limited by cost considerations
- Japan is one of the greenest consumer societies; penalties and taxes coerce producers and consumers to pay attention to the amount of packaging produced and disposed
- "A German law on packaging requires manufacturers to collect and recycle product packaging after sales; a Japanese law restricts the size of product containers, limits the cost of packaging to 15 per cent of product’s retail price and seeks recycling by manufacturers; while a Taiwanese law stipulates that the number of packaging layers cannot exceed three"
- 'User Pays' principle sustains consumerism by placing responsibility of disposal and recycling on manufacturers and consumers since they're responsible for the product
- Environmentally friendly products are more expensive
- Some materials may be deemed environmentally friendly but are actually not, like biopolymers; producing them takes a lot of energy and tends to emit methane, a greenhouse gas
A lot of products have excessive amounts of packaging. This packaging protects the product and represents the brand, but is it really necessary to have two or three layers? Improvements in product development, including packaging, could help establish sustainable development and living. For example, eco-design could be applied to packaging; asking questions on what materials are used, how the packaging is manufactured, how it is used and how it is disposed. Eco-design of a product and its packaging is intended to not only enhance environmental conservation but save long-term production costs. Lots of packaging requires more materials and resources to manufacture it, so it costs more. Friends of the Earth Development manager Janet Fok said we "should start with prevention - avoid waste products at the source" That means cutting back on packaging, which would save time, money, and the environment.
This article was interesting. Our first step to establish a sustainable economy should be to reduce the amount of packaging; reducing carbon dioxide emissions as less power and fuel is used for production and transportation. Also, the government needs to get involved for this to happen too. Even with companies and people working together, manufacturers and consumers are not enough, and are often limited by cost considerations. They could provide incentives for companies that use less packaging, or for people to recycle their used packaging. Japan, one of the greenest consumer societies, coerces producers and consumers to pay attention to the amount of packaging produced and disposed using taxes and penalties. There are laws in multiple countries that encourages recycling and limits the number of layers in packaging. Another good idea is to implement the User Pays principle, which places responsibility of disposal and recycling on manufacturers and customers since they're directly responsible for the product. There are a lot of ways that we could be reducing waste, but we're not doing them. As one of the biggest consumer and manufacturer countries in the world, it's our job to take action. We shouldn't have to wait for our waste to start piling up until we have nowhere else to put it to do something about it. It's time for us to take action now, while we still have time.