Design studio RYAN HARC has proposed that aluminum Coca-Cola cans should go paint-less to cut down on energy and material usage.

The November issue of CR (Creative Review) magazine will come in a revolutionary dissolvable bag. The packaging is made out of a water-soluble polymer which completely biodegrades in your sink, dishwasher or shower.

Cubis is a packaging concept design which is claimed to be the world’s first stackable, fliptop plastic beverage container. Because of it’s cube shape, the Cubis takes up less space on store shelves, and transportation becomes more efficient (and therefore eco-friendly) as well.  The Cubis is also made out of recycled materials and can be used with one hand.  It’s scheduled to be released for use next month.
[via Lovely Package]
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At the 2008 Nike exhibition in Beijing, the sports retail giant utilized a unique packaging design, hoping to reflect their goals of sustainability and lightness.  The recycled cardboard packaging was designed by Zack Klauck and Emile Molie from 2×4, Inc.  The multidisciplinary design studio produced an exhibit that chronicled the four decades of Nike’s pursuit of new materials and technology.
The bags themselves are a mesh wrap of cardboard that are designed to hold a shirt and a windbreaker or a pair of shoes.  The sizes are written by hand and special attention is paid to the amount of materials involved [...]

Richard Fine and Nathan Frank sent us a set of their new products the other day. The guys have evolved since they launched their original Help I Have A Headache pack and their new range covers cuts, sore feet, sneezes and tired eyes. Taking the products back to basics and presented in plain English, they are wrapped in compostable materials: molded paper pulp and bio plastic from corn resin. They also fit perfectly in that narrow cabinet in your bathroom. With the attention to detail plus the cute messaging throughout the packs we can’t wait for our next little sting [...]

With so much talk around the benefits of buying local foods – keeping money in local economies, lessening environmental impact and being both healthier and better tasting – the concept of food miles – the distance food travels to get to your plate – carries an increasing level of import. But short of better labeling and greater transparency on the part of distributors and supermarket chains, the process of understanding where your food comes from still requires a lot of legwork on the part of consumers.

Image Credit: Getty Images, Kin Lush/Flickr

With that in mind, we really like the Far Foods [...]

Lost At E Minor points us to this vibrant packaging from pastry company Crumbs Foods designed by Folk Creative in London.

The Crumbs website does some good storytelling about the brand if you can get past the flasher!

Frito-Lay has announced one of their snacks is becoming just a bit more sustainable. Starting in 2010, all of the SunChips multigrain chips will come in fully compostable bags made out of plant-based materials. They claim the packaging will completely decompose in about 14 weeks. Let’s hope they begin using this type of bag for all their snacks.
Frito-Lay Press Release

Dieline points us to a photo shoot by Lance Wilson and Dan Becker of over 160 beer cans. They say that they actually have a collection of 2,000 cans but there’s no news about when they’ll release the other shots.

60BAGS is a line of disposable bags that can decompose in about 2 months. They are sturdy enough to be used repeatedly, but are made out of a specially designed material that will break down quickly when disposed of.
60BAG explains:
60BAGs are the perfect natural answer to the environment’s needs. They are biodegradable carrier bags made our of flax-viscose non-woven fabric. Its material was scientifically developed and manufactured in Poland. The flax-Viscose fabric is produced with flax fiber industrial waste, which means it doesn’t exploit any natural resources and requires minimal energy during its production. This highly innovative technology enables the [...]

It’s great that Tropicana has switched back to their familiar old logo, but a new book shows that all is not as it seems in the world of packaged orange juice. Alissa Hamilton, author of Squeezed gives us a behind the scenes look at the shockingly complex packaging technology and processing that supports the supposedly “fresh” juice we drink.
The Boston Globe explains:
In the process of pasteurizing, juice is heated and stripped of oxygen, a process called deaeration, so it doesn’t oxidize. Then it’s put in huge storage tanks where it can be kept for upwards of a year. It gets [...]

Reacting to the statistic that the UK generates around 25 million tonnes of household waste per year, much of which ending up in landfill, a local government think tank in Britain has put forward an idea that supermarkets should be held responsible for over-packaging the products they sell and therefore have to pay for recycling costs. In a report entitled ‘War On Waste’, the Local Government Association argues that by levying a charge for supermarkets on the the collection of their packaging they will be incentivised to cut back. The BBC reports:
Since the LGA’s first report in October 2007, the [...]

Rentagreenbox is sparking a revolution in the moving industry with an arsenal of sustainable packaging tools. Leading up the roster is the recopack. Made from 100% recycled plastic, the sturdy moving box comes in 3 sizes and can be used over 400 times before it’s recycled back into another recopack. Replacing the messy and unsustainable Styrofoam packing peanut are recocubes, which are made out of paper sludge (usually a throw-away by product of paper making), which can also be reused, or returned to the earth as compost when they’re done. Rentagreenbox also make a paper-based bubble wrap and a host [...]

Plain old reality is rapidly being woven together with the virtual by functional augmented reality tools that attach digital to physical. We’ve seen 3D information layers used in MINI’s 2008 Cabrio ad campaign, and now Lego is playing with these auras of information. The toy company is test launching a “Digital Box”, which, when held up to an in-store camera, will superimpose a rendering of the completed Lego model on top of the product box on screen. The Digital Box was designed by Metalo for Lego, and can be seen soon at select toy stores and Lego shops around the [...]

A few weeks ago, we noticed these girls squatting between stalls in the Union Square farmers’ market in New York City. They were protesting about the impact of packaging. We guess that their sign should read:
DO you know? Most recover[able] materials are floating in the ocean, not being recycled?