Marie Redding, associate editor08.07.15
If you still think an eco-friendly package has to look plain, this couldn’t be less true. Yet, it seems that when a designer, marketer or package development expert sets out to use environmentally responsible materials in the packaging for a prestige product, there is still come confusion and debate.
Does a package need to look plain to convey that it is “green”? It seems the opposite is true - consumers want it all, and brands are delivering. Prestige consumers expect luxury - and expect their favorite beauty brands to be eco-conscious, experts say.
Pacifica's eco-friendly tubes by Viva Heathcare
Beauty Packaging’s editor, Jamie Matusow, moderated the conference, “Working Together to Produce Environmentally Responsible Packaging” at Luxe Pack New York 2015, bringing together different types of experts to clear the confusion.
The panelists were: Brook Harvey-Taylor, president, Pacifica; Juliane Camposano, VP of marketing, Global Brands Group / beauty and fashion consultant; William Russell, professor of Green Accounting for Columbia University’s Master of Science program in Sustainability Management; and Bruno Lebeault, marketing director, North America, Viva Healthcare Packaging.
More Sustainable Options, Especially for Luxury Brands
The panelists discussed the multitude of sustainable options right now, mentioning some of the most obvious eco-friendly materials. But, the point that was made was how you can’t judge a book by its cover.
“There are lots of eco-friendly materials and sustainable ways to produce a package - and they may not look ‘green’ in a traditional sense, yet there can still be an eco-factor attached to it even if it is not obvious,” explained Camposano. Among the brands Camposano has worked with are L’Oreal, Carol’s Daughter and Purology.
Is it a greater challenge for a luxury brand, however, to use eco-friendly materials while still delivering luxury, with a package that conveys added value - but not “excess”? “It’s actually easier,” Camposano says. “A product that sells at a higher price point is not a hindrance to ‘green’ - luxury and sustainability can and often do co-exist.”
Harvey-Taylor says that for many beauty brands, it is often a challenge to know which materials and processes are “green” and which aren’t. But, other aspects of packaging must still get equal consideration. “We not only ask is it recyclable - but does it look luxe? Does it have the ‘purse factor,’ so our customer will want to carry the product beverywhere and show it off?” she explained.
Pacifica’s Eco-Friendly - and Luxe - Tubes
Pacifica is successfully balancing the challenges of combining sustainability with a luxe look. Harvey-Taylor worked with Viva
Target's Made To Matter program
Healthcare’s Lebeault to create colorful tubes for its hand cream line, which has won several awards for both its product and packaging.
The tube doesn’t look how a traditional eco-friendly package might, because the brand’s design aesthetic is luxe, not “granola.”
“Pacifica is into beautiful graphics, and they were looking for a company to translate an impactful graphic design onto a tube,” explained Lebeault.
Viva Healthcare Packaging’s tubes are 100% PP and recyclable. Pacifica’s colorful injection-molded tubes are decorated with an in-mold labeling process. They feature full-color graphics with shiny gold accents created using a cold foil process.
“The packaging has a low carbon footprint for its entire lifecycle,” explained Lebeault. “The tubes score well on life cycle analysis tests - and we can offer them at a competitive price,” added Lebeault. (Here’s a video with more details about this tube.)
Proving that consumers care about ‘green’ issues, Pacifica is recognized by Target’s Made To Matter program, created to give consumers an easy way to find the brands that care about the causes they care about - and that offer affordable options. Target takes a product and its packaging into consideration when hand-picking brands marked with its “Made To Matter” status, and states: “Pacifica is made to matter because natural beauty products can be made with compassion; for women, the planet and animals.”
Sustainability and Profitability Go Hand in Hand
No matter what a product’s price point is, budgets are always a major factor to consider when designing and developing packaging. The decision to use eco-friendly materials may have once been a luxury not all brands could afford - but the opposite is true today.
“Brands today can’t afford to not be eco-friendly,” said Russell, who developed his own curriculum for “sustainability metrics.” Russell is also principal at Transitioning to Green, a sustainability management consulting firm; and author of The Sustainable Enterprise Fieldbook: When It All Comes Together.
“The non-sustainable economy is a thing of the past - the ‘green economy’ is here. There are ways that organizations can embrace sustainability and improve profitability. In fact, the only way for businesses to be profitable long term is through sustainability,” Russell explained.
“Green Accounting” analyzes both the cost and level of sustainability of a package’s materials and manufacturing processes, with the goal of optimizing the environmental, social and economic performance of a brand or company. Russell often consults with brands about how to find solutions for “green” challenges by conducting sustainability assessments and “sustainability profitability modeling.”
The Future is ‘Green’?
Russell stressed the point that sustainability will soon be a mainstream, normal business practice. “It will be the only way business is done, especially in the packaging industry,” he said. Are you ready?
Read More: Beauty Packaging editor-in-chief Jamie Matusow asked Luxe Pack New York's guest of honor and chief executive of William McDonough Innovation—and co-author of the iconic Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things—about his thoughts on eco-designed packaging and sustainable solutions in the Interview: William McDonough Says Packaging Can Be Beautiful—Endlessly
Read More: Mark Rosen recruited this expert panel to discuss all things luxury in Beauty Packaging's Online Exclusive Top Beauty & Fragrance Execs Explain Luxury - And How To Deliver It
Does a package need to look plain to convey that it is “green”? It seems the opposite is true - consumers want it all, and brands are delivering. Prestige consumers expect luxury - and expect their favorite beauty brands to be eco-conscious, experts say.
Pacifica's eco-friendly tubes by Viva Heathcare
More Sustainable Options, Especially for Luxury Brands
The panelists discussed the multitude of sustainable options right now, mentioning some of the most obvious eco-friendly materials. But, the point that was made was how you can’t judge a book by its cover.
“There are lots of eco-friendly materials and sustainable ways to produce a package - and they may not look ‘green’ in a traditional sense, yet there can still be an eco-factor attached to it even if it is not obvious,” explained Camposano. Among the brands Camposano has worked with are L’Oreal, Carol’s Daughter and Purology.
Is it a greater challenge for a luxury brand, however, to use eco-friendly materials while still delivering luxury, with a package that conveys added value - but not “excess”? “It’s actually easier,” Camposano says. “A product that sells at a higher price point is not a hindrance to ‘green’ - luxury and sustainability can and often do co-exist.”
Harvey-Taylor says that for many beauty brands, it is often a challenge to know which materials and processes are “green” and which aren’t. But, other aspects of packaging must still get equal consideration. “We not only ask is it recyclable - but does it look luxe? Does it have the ‘purse factor,’ so our customer will want to carry the product beverywhere and show it off?” she explained.
Pacifica’s Eco-Friendly - and Luxe - Tubes
Pacifica is successfully balancing the challenges of combining sustainability with a luxe look. Harvey-Taylor worked with Viva
Target's Made To Matter program
The tube doesn’t look how a traditional eco-friendly package might, because the brand’s design aesthetic is luxe, not “granola.”
“Pacifica is into beautiful graphics, and they were looking for a company to translate an impactful graphic design onto a tube,” explained Lebeault.
Viva Healthcare Packaging’s tubes are 100% PP and recyclable. Pacifica’s colorful injection-molded tubes are decorated with an in-mold labeling process. They feature full-color graphics with shiny gold accents created using a cold foil process.
“The packaging has a low carbon footprint for its entire lifecycle,” explained Lebeault. “The tubes score well on life cycle analysis tests - and we can offer them at a competitive price,” added Lebeault. (Here’s a video with more details about this tube.)
Proving that consumers care about ‘green’ issues, Pacifica is recognized by Target’s Made To Matter program, created to give consumers an easy way to find the brands that care about the causes they care about - and that offer affordable options. Target takes a product and its packaging into consideration when hand-picking brands marked with its “Made To Matter” status, and states: “Pacifica is made to matter because natural beauty products can be made with compassion; for women, the planet and animals.”
Sustainability and Profitability Go Hand in Hand
No matter what a product’s price point is, budgets are always a major factor to consider when designing and developing packaging. The decision to use eco-friendly materials may have once been a luxury not all brands could afford - but the opposite is true today.
“Brands today can’t afford to not be eco-friendly,” said Russell, who developed his own curriculum for “sustainability metrics.” Russell is also principal at Transitioning to Green, a sustainability management consulting firm; and author of The Sustainable Enterprise Fieldbook: When It All Comes Together.
“Green Accounting” analyzes both the cost and level of sustainability of a package’s materials and manufacturing processes, with the goal of optimizing the environmental, social and economic performance of a brand or company. Russell often consults with brands about how to find solutions for “green” challenges by conducting sustainability assessments and “sustainability profitability modeling.”
The Future is ‘Green’?
Russell stressed the point that sustainability will soon be a mainstream, normal business practice. “It will be the only way business is done, especially in the packaging industry,” he said. Are you ready?
Read More: Beauty Packaging editor-in-chief Jamie Matusow asked Luxe Pack New York's guest of honor and chief executive of William McDonough Innovation—and co-author of the iconic Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things—about his thoughts on eco-designed packaging and sustainable solutions in the Interview: William McDonough Says Packaging Can Be Beautiful—Endlessly
Read More: Mark Rosen recruited this expert panel to discuss all things luxury in Beauty Packaging's Online Exclusive Top Beauty & Fragrance Execs Explain Luxury - And How To Deliver It
