Online shopping has taken the world by storm. With easy access and the convenience of shopping from the comfort of your home, shopping online steadily increases by the year and is rapidly spreading worldwide. An estimated 1.92 billion online purchases were made in 2019, surpassing sales of more than 3.5 trillion US dollars worldwide.
Global consumer attitudes to sustainability
Recent studies of consumer behaviours in developed markets, show that there has been a growing awareness of social and environmental impacts relating to sustainability. With a growing market in sustainable related products and services, consumers appeal to companies taking action and their role in driving more sustainable patterns of consumption.
With e-commerce flourishing, it pays to stay ahead of the game with sustainability tactics for your growing business. In this article, we look at the top 5 sustainable packaging solutions for your online business.
Noissue creates custom, sustainable packaging online for all your business needs. Founded in 2017, the online business is committed to sustainability which is evident in their products, materials and method of sourcing materials.
The Noissue product range includes:
What makes Noissue eco-friendly?
Noissue custom tissue uses FSC certified paper products that are acid-free and prints with soy-based inks.
FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certifies paper products sourced from a forest and supply chain that is managed responsibily and sustainably. FSC forest management standards are developed at an international level and adopted by a country as national standards.
Noissue tissue paper is made from cellulose fiber and active acid pulp is elimnated during the paper making process. The paper is also lignin and sulfur free which means no nasty chemicals are leached into the environment during decomposition.
How do you compost Noissue mailers?
One of the more popular compostable products is the Noissue compostable mailer. They are made from polybutylene adipate terephthalate or PBAT which is a biodegradable copolymer, and polylactic acid or PLA which is made up of plant based materials such as corn and wheat.
Noissue compostable products can be composted at home or commercially. To be certified as home compostable, a product must be able to be broken down in a home compost within 180 days, and 90 days in commercial composting conditions.
Noissue - Tissue paper
Noissue tissue paper can be customised online with your brand, logo, text or image. The final print can be customised in three different ways:
- Upload your logo or image;
- Select a Noissue pre-made template; or
- Upload your own full design.
From the design phase to delivery, the whole process can take up to 3 weeks with the shipping location from Australia.
Cost: Prices start from $170 in the small size (38cm x 50cm) for 250 sheets in one colour at 17gsm.
Noissue - Water Activated Tape
Just like Noissue tissue paper, Noissue packing tape can be customised online and is a perfect addition to your brand. The environmentally friendly benefits of using Noissue packing tape include:
- 100% recycled FSC certified paper
- Water activated adhesion
- Soy-based ink printing
- Available in two sizes
The packing tape also comes in two different sizes for all your packaging needs.
Visit their instagram page #noissueco for inspiration on custom tape packaging designs.
Cost: Prices start from $125 in the small size (50mm x 50mm) for 5 rolls available in two colours: kraft and white.
Noissue - compostable mailers
If you’re looking for the ultimate sustainable packaging option, look no further than Noissue compostable mailer bags. At a time when the options for sustainability rank in the order of reduce, recycle and reuse, it is a no brainer that composting solutions are leading the way.
Noissue compostable mailer bags are the perfect alternative to plastic poly mailer bags which ususally end up in landfill. The mailer bags are:
- 100% compostable
- Made from plant-based materials
- Durable for multi-use packaging options
These mailers can be conveniently composted both at home and commercially.
Cost: Prices start from $20 for 50 mailer bags in the small size (165mm x 230mm). There are three sizes available with quantities up to 1000.
Are you looking for a user-friendly online design platform for your business? Look no further than Canva, a web based program that allows users to easily create custom designs with simple editing tools and drag-and-drop features.
Canva is an amazing tool for small businesses and indivduals looking to create a range of designs including:
- Logos
- Social media content
- Adverts
- Presentations
- Infographic content
- Invites
- Prints
Canva has thousands of existing templates to choose from which makes the design process even easier. It’s also a one-stop shop for carefully curated images, gifs and graphics to use in your design.
The best thing about Canva are the ever expanding features that the team are continuously adding to improve user experience which now includes video editing.
Cost: Canva is free to use with no subscription fee. To use premium images and selected templates, a subscription plan option is available. You can upgrade your free account to Canva Pro with prices starting from $164.99 and options for payment plans that recur monthly or yearly.
There are no lock-in contracts and you can cancel the subscription at anytime. If you’re not sure about Canva Pro, you can also try out the free trial period of 30 days. This is perfect for small businesses starting out, with Canva Pro being accessible to 5 team members.
3. Biodegradable packing peanuts
Gone are the days of foam packing peanuts which were traditionally disposed of in landfill or ended up in waterways. Biodegradable packing peanuts offer the same functionality to protect your precious goods whilst still being the better sustainable option.
Like many plant based materials, biodegradable packing peanuts are made from eco-friendly and natural sources such as wheat and corn starch. As a biodegradable product, it can be easily dissolved in water or placed in compost for disposal.
Cost: Prices start from $81.50 for a bulk pack of 400 litres from Officeworks.
4. compostable shipping labels
Your customers can now easily compost their whole package without the hassle of removing the shipping label. Most adhesive backing on glossy tapes and vinyl labels cannot be composted.
Thankfully compostable shipping labels are now available to provide a more sustainable option.
Are labels compostable?
Standard sticky labels and shipping labels are not compostable. Unfortunately, many labels are made from polypropylene material i.e. plastic or vinyl and have a permanent adhesive backing making them not compostable or eco-friendly.
What are compostable labels?
Compostable labels are made from materials like paper for the label itself and compostable acrylic as the adhesive backing. The product should also be certified compostable.
There are many compostable label options available on the market so here are the things you should be looking for:
- Labels made from FSC certified paper, that is from either virgin or recycled pulp
- The adhesive backing is made from compostable material and renewable resources like sugar-based ingredients
- Certified as 100% compostable by the ABA or the TUV (the global leader in compostable certification) and not simply sold as an “eco-friendly” product
- Ensure that the labels are compatible with your thermal printer. Popular printers that are compatible with compostable labels include Brother, Dymo and Zebra.
- Marked with an advice note on each label indicating that the label is compostable so your customers know the labels belong in compost not trash!
Where can I buy compostable labels?
Here are the best online suppliers for compostable labels:
1. Noissue: prices start from $20 for one roll of 4″ x 6″ thermal printer labels that can be used on Brother, Dymo and Zebra model printers.
2. Compostalabels: prices start from $24.95 for one roll of 250 plain paper labels in one size 100mm x 250mm labels or $54.95 for one roll of 220 thermal printer labels in one size 104mm x 159mm that can be used on a Dymo model printer.
3. Ecolabels: prices start from $22.99 for one roll of 250 thermal printer labels in one size 100mm x 150mm that can be used on Zebra, TSC DA210, Bixalon and Sato model printers.
4. Herolabel™️: prices start from $19.00 for 10 sheets of 3.75″ x 4.75″ plain paper labels that can be used on Inkjet and laser printers.
Are you looking for a plastic free packaging solution for your products but don’t quite fancy water-activated tape? Well Composticky Tape™️ Rolls are the perfect answer to keeping your shipping process plastic-free.
What are Composticky Tape™️ Rolls?
Composticky Tape™️ Rolls are an innovative compostable sticky tape product made with a natural non-plastic adhesive.
It’s made from PLA (polylactic acid) and natural rubber adhesive making it a vegan-friendly product and certified compostable.
Cost: A single roll is $8.50, measuring 80 metres and 5 cm wide. Composticky Tape™️ Rolls can be purchased online at Hero Packaging.
Do you use sustainable shipping options for your online business? Let us know!