Product Packaging : Edible Packaging

Serving as the number one source of our plastic use, companies opt for plastic containers because it's easy, feasible, and convenient. Food packaging alone makes up for 30-40% of landfills with much of that plastic being carried into the oceans. Going off of this, a new concept that's quickly becoming popular are package free grocery stores. These cost- effective grocery stores have everything you could possible need in bulk form and consumers bring glass or reusable containers, or cloth bags and fill them with the food they need. First popping up in cities like Berlin, Vienna, and Barcelona, many are finding this a more sustainable and eco-friendly option resulting in these sort of grocery stores quickly spreading across the ocean, with the first one in the United States expected to open in Brooklyn, New York. Business operators are extremely optimistic that this could serve a very impactful solution to getting rid of unnecessary plastic. (Che Jenny).

In the essay, “What’s in a Package”, written by Thomas Hine, the author describes how we live in a world unaware of what’s right under our noses when it comes to consumers and buying items in packages. He explains the many ways packaging is relevant in our lives and how much of an impact it has on us without us even knowing. He illustrates packaging as something that has evolved and is still evolving over time and something that plays a huge role in why we buy the things we do. First, the author introduces how everyone has the desire of wanting to buy things, regardless of where it may be or what it is. He mentions that the businesses selling these items are not only getting you buy their product but also believe they they will benefit us in some way, shape or form.

According to ecowatch.com, all the plastic humans added up thrown away added up can circle the Earth four times. This is around 500 billion plastic bags, and most of them end up on landfill sites. The plastic bags in landfills usually lay there for over 300 years until they are completely photodegraded, or decomposed by the light, especially sunlight. During the process of being photodegraded, the plastic bags break down into small toxic particles that are either released into the air, or into the soil. These small toxic particles contaminate many different things such as soil and waterways. Since it is in the soil and waterways, animals often come and end up eating these dangerous toxic particles. Some supermarkets use biodegradable bags that are said to be “environment friendly,” but that is a total lie. According to an article about plastic bag pollution by Sharon Jacobsen, it says, “...the truth is that the process of breaking down these petrol based bags causes carbon to become methane which is a greenhouse gas.” Greenhouse gases are very dangerous to the environment since it causes temperature increase around the whole entire globe. Therefore, in conclusion, neither plastic bags or so-called “environment friendly” bags are good for the environment all around us, and we should not use them. Instead, we should use reusable

A European or North American consumer wastes almost 100 kilograms of food annually, which is more than his or her weight. Reducing the amount of food that is produced in the United States has been a great challenge for decades for the American Society. One of the great challenges that is preventing the solution to this issue is that the major part of the society is not recognizing the effect of this issue. Similarly, in his article “Can We End America’s Massive Food Waste Problem?”, the author Mr. Karim Chrobog discusses how aware are the American people on matter of food waste and the major reasons why the wastage of food is growing fast in the United States. Chrobog explains that different advertisements have changed how consumers choose their food making them to be picky on how they get their food products. Furthermore, he presents some statics that explains the food wasted in the United States is much larger than any other country in the world. In addition, he claims that expire date labels and the food not meeting the consumer standards in the stores are the major causes of the food waste that is happening today. He demonstrates that technology can be used a means of solution to combat the issue of food waste by presenting an app that has helped in the reduction of food waste by cooperating restaurants and stores with charity organizations feeding hungry people the food that was going to be wasted. Consequently, he stated that people

We can’t only blame the consumers for the things occurring in our world. If less plastic packaging were used and more paper or glass packaging were used it would really benefit the world. Looking at plastic water bottles many say that they are recycled or reusable but they aren’t always

In “What’s in a Package?” article. Thomas Hine talks about the roles and effects of package. Hine explains how it is different from culture to another culture. Also, he mentioned the danger of focusing on packaging. There are differences between packaging in the past and packaging now. Employee who sell products to customers don’t impact like what packaging does. packages are around us in our daily lives. Packaging or the way of packaging not just can attract people to buy, it does many other things like protecting product from damage. there are some specialists who do testing for packaging and study what people want or need to make packaging in that way. Packages are different between cultures that they are present

The light green packaging, aiming to be viewed as environmentally friendly is deceiving. ‘Everything is individually wrapped in plastic and then placed on a sheet of plastic. All the air is then sucked out of the meal, leaving no air or oxygen” (Lunchables packaging). “None of the packaging is recyclable considering that all of it, excluding the part you eat, is plastic (Lunchables packaging). With the

5. In what ways does the product’s packaging need changing when the product is being marketed in another country?

Right now, for every pound of garbage people generate, about seven pounds of waste are produced upstream in the manufacturing process, before the product gets to the consumer. (Kulpinski). “Ninety-five percent … of a product’s environmental impact happens before the package is even opened,” said Hershkowitz. The EPA states that recycling provides an annual benefit of 49.7 million metric tons of carbon equivalent emissions reduced, comparable to removing 39.4 million passenger cars from the road each year (EPA). With that said, if everything you throw away negatively impacts our environment,

In food service it is important to realize and address hot button issues within the industry to begin to understand what the target market wants, increase revenue and decrease cost centers. In researching the increasingly pressing issue of food sustainability in global food service it was discovered that implementations are initially expensive and require large amounts of dedication but are ultimately huge factors in increasing brand loyalty and recognition and gaining popularity within the “green” market segment. It was the goal of this paper to outline specific concerns posed by the issue of food sustainability as well as methods of the industry’s participation in its solutions and to analyze the progress made to increase awareness of

In other efforts to be environmentally conscience, PepsiCo has reduced the packaging weight of their products by more than three hundred fifty million pounds, which exceeded their goal by more than twenty percent. In addition, PepsiCo has recycled approximately ninety-one percent of the waste, allowing less than nine percent to be sent to landfills. In some of the company facilities around the world as little as one percent of waste is sent to the landfills. Recycling of packaging is another commitment of PepsiCo. This commitment is being accomplished by using materials that are compatible with readily accessible recycling systems. (Environmental Sustainability)

Good packages can help preserve food and prolong its shelf life during storage, transport retailing and consumption.

After television ads, packaging is the most effective form of marketing foods for children. Packaging attracts kids with color, fun characters that they can relate to, and toy prizes in the box that may cause the children to just want the toy

Plastic bags cause a massive amount of pollution to the earth. It lets out lots of CO2 into the air with the production of it. CO2 is a greenhouse gas that if let out too much at one time can hurt the planet. Not only do plastic bags produce pollution while being made, but also when they are decomposing. Plastic bags go on to last for up to 10-1000 years. That is possibly 1000 years that a plastic bag goes on to add the huge amount of trash in the world. Although plastic bags take so long to decompose they do eventually break down. Exposure to a lot of sunlight and wind will also speed up the process of the decomposition of plastic bags. The breaking down of plastic bags seems like a good thing, however it is the complete opposite. Plastic bags are broken down into microscopic particles that are toxic. Those toxic particles then go on to hurt the environment. An articles states, “They break down into tiny toxic particles that contaminate the soil and waterways and enter the food chain when animals accidentally ingest them.”. This goes to show that those

Investigations into developing a more sustainable and eco-friendly aspect of every day life are becoming a major priority. Without such investigations or developments in not only the food packaging sectors, but in many other major industries, this planet along with its inhabitants will surely succumb to the human lust of consumerism and ultimately the waste that such hunger produces. The implantation of ecofriendly “green” packaging options would see a sharp decline in the amount of waste that is produced each year and give the ability to recycle and to produce new items from previously used packaging. In this report the team discuss the concept of biodegradable plastics and their future implementation as “green” food packaging alternatives to the current form of non eco-friendly plastics that are in existing use. Biodegradability refers to a composites ability to be degraded by bacteria or other living organisms, plastics such as these can also be susceptible to water and ultraviolet rays as sources of decomposition with this aspect being discussed within the chapters of this report. As apart of this report, team members assess the discovery, life cycle as well as the current or future applications of three different types of bio-plastic. Contained within is discussion on Poly-Lactic Acid, Novamont’s thermoplastic starch-based polymer and …