Sustainable Packaging On a Budget

Creating a Sustainable Packaging Strategy On a Budget

EcoEnclose partners with brands of all sizes, from Fortune 500 companies to small online stores. With over 50,000 brands served, we have found that they share a commitment to sustainability and need high-performance packaging.

The EcoAlly Experience offers a comprehensive sustainable packaging partnership. So, when you decide to pursue a sustainable packaging strategy, know that EcoEnclose will support you from start to finish. We look forward to working with you on your journey.

A Helpful Guide to Creating a Sustainable Packaging Strategy on a Budget

We are thrilled to be in a time when many brands and their consumers prioritize sustainability and ethical business practices. However, we recognize that it is also a time of economic uncertainty, and many brands face financial challenges. For some brands, sales are flat or declining, while supplies and inputs are more expensive than ever.

When these challenges arise, companies are often forced to make tough decisions about balancing tightened budgets and sustainability goals.

Unfortunately, the most sustainable products often have a slightly higher cost. This is because sourcing and producing high-quality recycled content is usually more expensive than virgin materials, whose costs don’t correctly reflect their negative externalities.

EcoEnclose also emphasizes domestic sourcing and manufacturing as a critical part of our sustainable packaging framework. This supports a robust reclaiming and remanufacturing supply chain in the U.S. However, labor and other costs in the U.S. are rising annually, leading to a slight premium for domestic sourcing.

Our team is constantly helping brands with budget constraints find sustainable packaging options that work for them. Our mantra is progress over perfection. We aim to get you in the most circular packaging possible while recognizing your budget and operational requirements.

We’re eager to help you determine the best path forward so you can meet your business needs without sacrificing your commitment to sustainability.

Read on for our best tips for brands of all sizes.

For Small to Mid-Sized Brands

Who ship less than 1,000 orders per week

Brands of this size can choose from myriad offerings on our website, which range considerably in functionality and cost. If your brand is in the small to mid-range, you also have various options for stock, semi-custom, or custom packaging.

Here are nine practical ways you can reduce costs on your packaging while still prioritizing sustainability.

1. Audit Your Packaging to Identify Material You Can Eliminate

One of the simplest and most effective ways to reduce costs is to eliminate unnecessary or “nice to have” materials.

Evaluate Your Current Packaging: Conduct a thorough review of your packaging to determine if any unnecessary elements can be removed. For example, could you eliminate inner packaging components like tissue paper or bubble wrap?

Minimize Excess: Aim to use the least amount of material necessary to package and ship your products safely. This not only reduces costs but also lessens your environmental footprint. For example, you could move from a Glassine Bag to a Hemp Tie for apparel.

2. Optimize Packaging for Operational Efficiency to Lower Costs

Optimizing your packaging for efficiency can help you lower operational costs, which reduces your overall cost per package shipped.

Streamline Packing Processes: Simplify your packing processes to reduce time and labor costs, such as using easier and quicker packaging to assemble. For example, our water-activated tape is more efficient and will reduce your operational costs in the long term, even if the upfront product cost is slightly higher.

Train Your Team: Ensure your team is trained on efficient packing techniques to minimize waste and improve productivity. Talk with your team to assess your current bottlenecks or waste sources.

3. Switch From a Box to a 100% Recycled Mailer

Many brands can swap from a box to a mailer for their products. While this can lead to a more straightforward unboxing experience, it’s an effective way to cut costs.

Cost-Effective Alternative: Mailers are typically less expensive than boxes and require fewer materials. Because they are lighter, they also reduce shipping expenses.

Space-Saving: Mailers take up less storage space than boxes, which can save on warehousing costs.

4. Switch From Paper to 100% Recycled Poly

Another easy cost-saving adjustment is transitioning from paper to 100% recycled poly mailers. In most cases, this can be done without significant operational changes.

Durability and Cost: 100% recycled poly mailers are durable and often more cost-effective than paper alternatives. They also offer better protection against moisture.

Lower Shipping Costs: Poly mailers are lightweight, which can reduce shipping costs compared to heavier paper mailers.

5. If Using Boxes, Move to a Smaller Size

Some brands prefer or require boxes to ship their products. While boxes are more expensive than mailers overall, there are still ways you can reduce expenses when using them.

Right-Sizing: Use boxes that fit your products snugly to avoid paying for extra material and reduce dimensional weight charges from carriers. If you’re not sure if your packaging is currently right-sized, we can help you assess.

Simpler Unboxing: A smaller box means less void fill is required. You can still include a simple “unboxing” experience by including a note, a swag sticker, or a layer of tissue.

6. Make Your Packaging Thinner

This method reduces packaging costs, which are almost imperceptible to the customer. We can work with you to see how much you can downgauge without losing your desired functionality.

Downgauging Materials: Use thinner but still durable materials for your packaging. This approach can significantly cut costs and reduce material usage without compromising protection. For example, if your packages weigh less than 25 lbs., you might switch from 44C boxes to 32C boxes.

Test Durability: Ensure that the thinner material still meets your protection needs through rigorous testing. We test all our products and can help you match your durability and barrier needs.

7. Adjust Your Purchasing to Align With Cashflow

Adjusting how much and when you purchase packaging can help manage budgeting needs. Depending on your cash flow situation, here are two strategies.

Bulk Purchasing: Do you have cash on hand but need to lower your per-unit cost? You can buy your packaging in bulk to take advantage of volume discounts.

Just-In-Time Ordering: Do you need to fulfill orders as they come due to limited cash on hand? Align your purchasing with your sales cycle to avoid holding excess inventory and tying up cash in unsold packaging.

8. Determine the Best Way to Custom Brand Within Your Budget

Custom branding helps you create a memorable customer experience and immediately communicate your brand’s value. When budget is a concern, we can help you identify ways to include custom elements in the most cost-effective way possible.

Evaluate Branding Options: Pre-printed packaging will still be the best option for some brands. Your packaging arrives ready to go without further operational costs created when adding stickers or extras. Consider simple and cost-effective branding options like one-color or one-side prints instead of full-color/full-cover printing. Shop EcoEnclose eco-designed packaging.

Strategic Branding: When pre-printed packaging isn’t an option, you can use strategic extras to create a cohesive brand look. Branded tape, stickers, or labels can help your packaging stand out without incurring the total cost of custom branding. Shop EcoEnclose custom branded packaging.

9. Take Advantage of Our Free We Care Cards

Use our complimentary  We Care cards to inform customers about your sustainability efforts. We offer these cards to our EcoAllies at no cost - we just ask that you cover shipping.

Our We Care cards add value and create customer engagement opportunities without increasing costs. With a minimum order of just 25 units, they’re a helpful addition for brands of any size.

You can choose from the following We Care Card options:

Original Full-Color Design: Our original design communicates your sustainability commitment. Printed in full-color vegetable-based ink.

Original Design in Black Algae Ink™: The same language as our original design, printed in carbon-sequestering Black Algae Ink™.

For Orders Shipped in Poly Mailers: These cards feature a QR code that directs your customers to information about reusing or recycling their mailers. They are printed in Black Algae Ink™.

For Orders Shipped in Black Algae Ink™: These cards feature a QR code that directs your customers to more information about this unique, carbon-sequestering ink technology.

Choosing the Right Packaging for Your Budget and Needs

Do you need help determining what changes will work best for you? You should take a few minutes to do a mini audit of your business and packaging needs.

Here’s a quick example of factors you could consider in your mini-audit.

Examples of Packaging Budget Decisions for Mid-Sized Brands:

Here are three examples of how balancing sustainability and budget can play out for brands in this size range. Note that each brand had different needs and came to different conclusions. We help each brand navigate its situations to find the best solution possible!

• Brand X: Needed to reduce overall costs. Determined that reducing shipping and material costs would be sufficient. Moved from a virgin paper mailer (purchased elsewhere) to a 100% recycled poly mailer from EcoEnclose. Saved $XYZ on material costs per unit and $XYZ on shipping costs per package shipped.

• Brand Y: Needed to cut costs temporarily during a slow season. Normal packaging is a tab-locking box with an ornate, layered unboxing experience. Determined that to maintain stability, less expensive packaging was needed temporarily. Moved to an RSC box up until October 1st, then returned to the original tab-locking box for the holidays. Saved $XYZ during the reduction period.

• Brand Z: Wanted to maintain custom branding while lowering spending. First, assessed for right-size packaging and moved to a smaller paper mailer size with no loss of aesthetics. Ran the numbers and realized that stickering the paper mailers was more expensive than direct printing. Designed and implemented direct printing for custom branding instead. Saved $XYZ on material costs and $XYZ on branding.

For Enterprise Brands

Who ships out 1,000+ or more orders per week.

We recognize that budget and logistical concerns can become even more complex for  enterprise brands - our larger brands that ship at high volumes.

Because of this, we offer additional customization, a broader menu of solutions, and potential price reduction opportunities for brands of this size! Our team has extensive experience with enterprise brands and can help you through the entire process.

Here are some of the ways we can help enterprise brands looking to enhance their packaging sustainability within budget constraints:

1. Transition from Post-Production to Inline Printing

Post-production printing is effective for lower volumes (100-500 units up until about 5-10k units).

As brands order 10-25k mailers simultaneously, transitioning to inline printing becomes more efficient. We’d love to help you print and convert your mailers inline, which allows you to expand your printing capabilities and reduces your per-unit cost by 5-50%, depending on the product category.

For brands that use shipping boxes, the cost reduction of moving from ordering 1,000 boxes at a time to ordering 10,000 at a time can be particularly dramatic.

Why the cost reduction? At high volumes, we produce orders on very different equipment than what we use for lower volume orders. These high-volume orders (produced “inline”) take much longer to set up (often 3-4 times as long), but once the job is running, it can be completed in a fraction of the time. This allows us to bring you cost reductions that our website pricing (which represents post-production or “non-inline” methods) does not reflect.

Contact us if you’re curious about how inline printing could work for your brand! We can give you an overview of the process and create a sample of updated packaging.

2. Move to Overseas Poly Mailer Production If Needed

At EcoEnclose, we prioritize domestic sourcing and manufacturing for many reasons. That being said, we recognize the need for tradeoffs in some situations.

There are better solutions than this from a sustainability standpoint, but if you are in a difficult spot and need to cut costs for some time, we can work with you. We can help you source 100% recycled film blends and mailers overseas from a partner in Malaysia. Once it’s financially feasible for you, we’re also here to help you transition back to domestic production.

Read: Choosing the Right Poly Mailers for Your Business

3. Explore Additional Packaging Offerings Beyond Our Website

When required, we can move brands to a lower-cost mailer that is 50% recycled/50% FSC virgin content mailer or a padded paper mailer with alternative cushioning.

While these non-stock options do not meet the rigorous standards we set for the packaging we are willing to stock and fully invest in, they can be a viable solution for brands needing to make drastic cost cuts without abandoning sustainability goals altogether.

As brands are ready, we can help them identify sustainable options that align more closely with their impact goals.

Read: Which Paper Mailer is Right for Your Business?

4. Downgauge Material, Especially for Poly Film

For enterprise customers, we offer a wide range of thicknesses in mailers, boxes, and more. For example, you may switch to a two-mil poly mailer or a thinner kraft paper mailer. We can even work with you to create custom box strengths.

Downgauging material can help you cut material and shipping costs per unit. When done strategically, you can preserve functionality and customer experience. We can determine how much you can downgauge your packaging to fit your needs.

You can also use our EcoSavings calculator to see how your impact and cost change with your packaging choices.

Creating a Sustainable Packaging Strategy That Works for Your Brand’s Budget

Your next step: let us do the work!

We work on packaging projects like this all day, every day. We know how many factors you’re considering and how stressful it can be - so let us take the load! Set up a call, and our team will work closely with you to create a sustainable, cost-effective path forward for your packaging.

Contact an EcoEnclose packaging expert today.