Nowadays, the life-cycle of a product or it’s packaging matters as much as it’s utility or the aesthetics. The increasing number of carbon footprints has prompted the brands to choose eco-friendly alternatives. From flourishing industries to new ventures, and start-ups, every other brand is now focused on more environment friendly products. This not only helps the brand in retaining it’s brand identity, image, and value but also helps to curb the harmful impact of it’s brand product.
The accentuating rise in the levels of landfills and waste from millions of commercial packages has caused enough harm to the planet over the last few decades. Pertaining to the current scenario, environmentally conscious consumers are more inclined towards purchasing packages made from bio-degradable materials and designed in a more sustainable manner. Sustainable design refers to the idea of designing a product with the utmost purpose of being as less malicious to our planet as possible which can certainly be achieved by using recycled materials.
Now let’s delve into the six popular biodegradable alternatives to toxic packaging materials:
1. Papers and Cardboards
2. Corn Starch
3. Bagasse Paper
4. Mycelium
5. Biodegradable Bubble Wrap
6. Biodegradable Plastic
1. Paper and cardboard :
One of the most easily available recyclable packaging and wrapping materials are discarded paper, corrugated sheets and cardboards. While cardboard and paper are organic materials, if they are sourced unsustainably, they might have dreadful consequences on the nature.
2. Corn starch :
Wrappers, containers and packaging materials made from corn starch are decomposable and has little or almost no harm on the environment. This is a notable alternative for products with a limited use, such as takeaway foods or postal items.
3. Bagasse paper :
Bagasse is the leftover pulp after extracting sugarcane juice. Initially, this waste was being burnt to be destroyed. But later on, to minimize the harmful impact on the earth it is being converted to paper or other recyclable products which take hardly three months to degrade.
4. Mycelium :
Mycelium is a decomposable, eco-friendly as well as cheap packaging alternative which is made from mushroom. This material is derived from an agricultural waste which decomposes very fast. This can be easily composted by breaking down organically into a non-toxic matter.
5. Biodegradable Bubble Wrap :
Being one of the most widely used wrapping materials; biodegradable bubble wraps are manufactured after recycling corrugated cardboards. Other eco-friendly alternatives are bubble wraps from recycled polyethylene.
6. Biodegradable plastic :
There are tons of alternatives based upon organic raw materials which are great for cushioning or filler, but nobody can deny the necessity of plastic in certain cases. That’s where the biodegradable plastic plays the role. The decomposition of this material begins once it is exposed to sunlight as compared to the conventional plastics which takes years to degrade, thus making it a better option over non-biodegradable plastics.
Wrapping it up, these were few of the famous alternatives to harmful packaging materials but there are still a lot more options to be explored in this field as sustainable packaging is not just an ongoing trend, but a necessity for the world.
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