Lush is a very controversial company in the handmade soap circles. Almost every forum I have visited has had an argument thread or two about them. Regardless of what you think of their products, you can’t disagree that they are committed to green issues. In fact, they have made it a priority to reduce the carbon footprint of the vast chain of retail stores they own and operate. Last year they tried several green packaging ideas that were both creative and helpful to the environment. One green method that they implemented was using actual popcorn instead of packaging peanuts or paper in their shipments. Popcorn is biodegradable and can be eaten by wildlife. In fact, you can dump it into your very own compost pile. It’s also 60% lighter than paper which saves fuel during transport. The also created a campaign to go naked and offered customers their products with no packaging whatsoever.

It can be very difficult and expensive for small companies to find packaging suitable for bath and body products. Going with no extraneous packaging at all makes a lot of sense except that packaging lends to a company’s branding efforts. Some products such as lotions and cremes require a container so naked is not an option. When choosing the packaging for your products, consider whether or not the end use can recycle the packaging and how much weight they add to a shipment. Something else to consider is how much energy it takes to recycle the packaging. For example, it’s possible for an aluminum can to return to the grocery store shelves in 60 days. Not true for plastic.

Are you interested in or currently implementing sustainable packaging for your business? If so - what types of green packaging do you use?