Much has been told about the ecological impact of consumerism. It is impressive how the richest 10% of the population is accountable for 49% of the world’s global carbon emissions.
As the richest percentage of the population tend to consume more, disposable products, unused items, and huge amounts of shiny packages float around the world. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. It was the mantra of my middle school sustainability teacher, but the execution of this wise mantra was much more intuitive in the older days. Who didn’t got caught in the deception of finding needles in grandma’s cookie box? Or even worse! Sneaking out to the refrigerator at night to take a scope of the delicious vanilla ice cream in the fridge, to open it to an ice cream container filled with beans. Those were hard impressions in life!
Image from Google images
Even when they formed part of my childhood trauma, looking back, there was no packaging element that could not have at least a second use.
As marketers, we are concerned about price, product, packaging and frequency of purchase. Our goal is to satisfy a need for a specific market while helping the company thrive through hearty revenues.
How can we align profitability with the wise use of resources?
The solution might be going back to the roots. As a child, we used to buy candies and seeds in bulk, taking our own bags to buy groceries that could last forever, the fruit wasn’t wrapped around plastic, nor tainted in wax to make it look shinier. A supermarket in Thailand began using banana leaves as packaging for their products. As mentioned in the article, banana leaves had also been used for the cooking of some Mexican traditional dishes and make an excellent option to reduce plastic packaging.
Tamal oaxaqueño, from Google images
Going back to natural options, getting creative with the packaging strategies, and looking towards a better design for the whole lifecycle of the product can extend the life of the products and prevent the waste of resources.
AFP. (2015). World’s richest 10% produce half of global carbon emissions, says Oxfam. April 3, 2019, de The Guardian Sitio web: (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/02/worlds-richest-10-produce-half-of-global-carbon-emissions-says-oxfam)
Trevor, N. (2019). Thailand Supermarket Ditches Plastic Packaging For Banana Leaves. April 3, 2019, de Forbes Sitio web: https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2019/03/25/thailand-supermarket-uses-banana-leaves-instead-of-plastic-packaging/#17e834557102
Hola Ana!
I really like the perspective that you present in this post. Like you, I also suffered through the disappointment of finding buttons in old candy jars, haha. I like your idea of going back to the basics. Throughout the years I feel like packing has more influence than the product itself, which to me seems very unnecessary and misleading. I also saw the article about Thailand and their switch to banana leaf, it’s amazing! In developed countries, it might not be a bad thing to look at how less developed countries are doing things, back to the basics, since they do contribute to the majority of global carbon emissions.
Justina
Hello Anna!
Your post really resonates with me on a personal level. Although I’m born and raised in Vancouver, my parents are both Indian immigrants and a lot of their culture and traditions from childhood were heavily incorporated in my upbringing. What you talk about in going back to natural traditions is an everyday conversation in my household – often times my parents emphasize this when it comes to agriculture specifically. They are always startled by the abundant availability of different types of foods during off seasons. In the same way that you discuss reducing packaging, I think it’s worthwhile to also look at changing our demanding culture to reflect the needs of the old days. My parents say that they didn’t expect summer fruits in the middle of winter – if we adopted the same expectations we may be able to curb the negative effects associated with wastage and transportation emissions. Thanks again for sharing; nice to see these thoughts are more common than I may have known.