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Corporate, Student Innovators Answer EPA's Package Design Challenge
The problem perplexes even the brightest minds in environmental science: How can package manufacturers break the cradle-to-grave model that dominates the industry and adds millions of pounds of waste to the nation's landfills each year?
EPA, in partnership with McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), posed that question to innovators across the country in its "Cradle to Cradle Design Challenge for E-Commerce Shipping Packaging and Logistics."
The winning professional entry, announced this month, represents a collaborative effort between Microsoft, Allen Schluger Company and Shorewood Packaging (New York). The designers created a "Bevelope" with 100 percent post-consumer content paperboard.
The unique design of the product allows it to expand or contract. The packaging can accommodate the slimmest paperback book or the thickest manual and collapses quickly after use. It can be stored for reuse or recycled with mixed paper. Companies can print labels directly onto the Bevelope, eliminating stickers that contaminate the recycling stream.
A team from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California produced the winning entry in the student category called "KNF (Keep it Nature Friendly)."
The students combined kenaf, a relatively new material, with the traditional concept of the Japanese Furoshiki, a traditional method of wrapping that dates back to the 8th century. The design places adjustable, protective corners around any sized book and then the entire product is wrapped.
The paper and corners are made from a plant called kenaf, that has several environmental advantages over trees as a source of paper. After the customer receives the package, the wrapping materials are given a second life. Consumers can choose to assemble the protective corners and use it as a germinator and plant pot, or they can compost the kenaf corners and wrapping paper.
"The Design Challenge has shown us that the door is wide open for exploring, identifying and developing innovative and environmentally sound packaging solutions," said Marianne Horinko, Acting Administrator for the EPA. "We look forward to the packaging industry implementing these tangible solutions."
For more information about the winning projects and those
who received recognition, see the Winner's
Announcement (PDF) (6 pp, 606K,
about PDF) and for more information about the contest,
see EPA's Cradle
to Cradle Design Award. 