Rethinking Decent Cardboard Boxes
Since Decent only sells direct, never in stores or through resellers, the goal of our “product packaging” is never to “look good on the shelf.” Instead, the main goal is to protect the item, and to make shelving, storage and packing quick and accurate.
Everything we sell comes in plain, fairly rough, cardboard boxes.
I've avoided using color printing as it's wasteful, and the kind of paper you need to print well on, has a bigger eco footprint, since it needs to be very fibers.
I've avoided using white paper as I prefer not to bleach the fibers. And no “white wrapper” either, for the same reason.
Now that Harris has joined us, with her pro-artist background, she proposed revisiting the packaging.
It's true that because our suppliers usually buy the box, that the cardboard quality varies, and on some items (milk jug, for instance) is quite thin and a bit ill-fitting. I'd like to improve that.
She's mocked up some ideas, and it turns out that what we're doing, is quite close to what IKEA does.
We're going to refine further our ideas, but I'd like to hear from you, if you have any thoughts about where our packaging should go?
-john
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On a related topic, I found this article about “white vs brown” cardboard, and was suprised at what it revealed: https://www.salazarpackaging.com/5564-2/
> ARE BROWN BOXES MORE ECO-FRIENDLY THAN WHITE BOXES? > >
> Why we usually suggest brown board for a box exterior > > MOST board with a white side in or out, is NOT 100% recycled content. White is typically virgin paper, that does not make it bad, in fact it makes for a great printing surface, but it is definitely not green if the goal is to use as much recycled content as possible. > > In addition to the obvious green benefit, brown board is typically 5 to 6% less expensive compared to white board. Darker colors, such as dark blue, brown, and black print beautifully over natural Kraft Board, as do lighter colors like white and most pastels. However, the main reason we usually suggest brown board has nothing to do with relative greenness or material cost. > > Simply put – brown boxes arrive looking better. Whether you ship UPS, FedEx or USPS, every box you ship is handled countless times and each time it ends up a little dirtier and beat up. This rough handling is much less obvious on brown board than it is on white board.
Updated 2022/08/28