How to Start Your Sustainable Packaging Journey: The First Step No One Talks About

Getting started with anything new is hard and sustainable packaging is no different.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the thought of transitioning to sustainable packaging? You're not alone. Many brands want to make the switch but get stuck at the starting line, paralyzed by the seemingly endless options, technical challenges, and potential costs.

What if there was a simpler way to begin?

The Three Phases of Sustainable Packaging

Before diving into the solution, let's understand where most brands fall on the sustainable packaging spectrum:

1. Doing Nothing - Continuing with conventional packaging while sustainability becomes increasingly important to consumers and regulators.
2. Following Proven Paths - Adopting sustainable packaging solutions that other brands have already implemented successfully.
3. Trailblazing - Creating innovative sustainable packaging solutions that push the industry forward.

While trailblazing sounds exciting, it requires significant expertise, resources, time, and risk tolerance. The reality? Our planet benefits most when more brands move from phase one to phase two, rather than a few moving from phase one to phase three.

The First Step You Won't Hear Anywhere Else

The most effective first step in your sustainable packaging journey isn't what most experts will tell you. It's simply this:

Research what other successful brands in your product category are already doing with sustainable packaging.

This approach offers several powerful advantages:

• Proven Viability - If a chocolate brand is successfully using compostable wrappers, you know immediately that it's technically possible for your chocolate products too.
• Reduced Risk - You can avoid costly trial-and-error by learning from solutions that already work in the marketplace.
• Accelerated Timeline - Instead of months or years of R&D, you can potentially implement proven solutions in weeks.
• Resource Efficiency - You'll save tens of thousands of dollars in development costs by building on established solutions.

How to Execute This Strategy

1. Create a Comprehensive List - Research all brands in your product category that have implemented sustainable packaging. Look at both direct competitors and adjacent products with similar requirements.
2. Document the Details - For each example, note the materials used, structural design, supplier (if identifiable), and any performance claims.
3. Identify Your Favorites - Circle the three approaches that seem most aligned with your brand's needs and values.
4. Contact Suppliers - Reach out to the companies that produce these packaging solutions to discuss specifications and pricing.
5. Test and Implement - Once you've selected a solution, conduct necessary testing and implement across your product line.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Some might worry this approach feels like copying. Here's why you shouldn't be concerned:

First, there are only so many viable sustainable packaging options currently available. For flexible packaging, for example, the main approaches are limited to:

• Adding post-consumer recycled content (PCR)
• Making it recyclable
• Making it industrially compostable
• Making it home compostable

While future innovations will emerge, these core approaches represent the practical options available today. You're not "copying" so much as selecting from a finite menu of established solutions.

Second, the trailblazing brands that pioneered these solutions are already reaping rewards through increased sales, brand loyalty, and fulfillment of their mission. Most would be thrilled to know they've inspired others to follow their lead—your adoption multiplies their positive impact on the planet.

Third, these packaging companies are trying to reach you anyways! Whether they reach you or you reach them, it's the same thing. Let's focus on protecting the planet and not get caught up in whether or not you copied someone else.

Don't be afraid of being inspired by or even adopting what role models in your industry are doing—it's not a negative, it's simply how progress works in business. When more brands adopt proven sustainability solutions, costs decrease and availability increases, creating a virtuous cycle of adoption.

The best way to honor these pioneers? Give them credit. When you launch your sustainable packaging, acknowledge the brands that inspired you. This creates a virtuous cycle of recognition and further encourages sustainability adoption.

The Hidden Benefit: Joining the Sustainability Ecosystem

When you embrace sustainable packaging, you gain entry into a collaborative community of like-minded brands, suppliers, and experts. This sustainability ecosystem offers partnership opportunities, knowledge sharing, and mutual support that transcends traditional competitive boundaries.

Former competitors can become allies united by a common mission to protect our planet. These connections often lead to unexpected business opportunities and innovations that benefit everyone involved.

Skip the Learning Curve

Looking for an even faster track? Consider working with sustainable packaging consultants who already know which solutions work best for your specific product category. They can connect you directly with proven suppliers, potentially saving you months of research and thousands in development costs.

At Packaged Sustainable, our experts have already done the research for countless product categories. We maintain detailed knowledge of which sustainable packaging approaches work for specific products, allowing you to implement solutions that have already proven successful in the marketplace.

Take Action Today

The greatest obstacle to sustainable packaging isn't technology—it's inaction. By learning from brands that have already paved the way, you can make the transition simpler, faster, and more cost-effective than you ever imagined.

Remember: Your brand doesn't need to reinvent sustainable packaging to make a difference. You just need to implement it.

Sustainability is different. We are in this together and there is a greater good at stake. It's not about being the best, but rather joining forces and being part of the solution!