{"id":59870,"date":"2017-08-08T18:02:58","date_gmt":"2017-08-08T22:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uncommongoods.com\/?p=59870"},"modified":"2018-01-04T10:14:10","modified_gmt":"2018-01-04T15:14:10","slug":"bursting-the-bubble-why-were-ditching-inflated-plastic-packing-material","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/2017\/bursting-the-bubble-why-were-ditching-inflated-plastic-packing-material\/","title":{"rendered":"Bursting the Bubble: Why We’re Ditching Inflated Plastic Packing Material"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are a lot of businesses that solely focus on profit… but we’re not one of them. Of course, we do need to make a profit to succeed as a business. But it’s also important to us that in everything we do, we use our business as a force for good. That means having a positive impact on people and our planet–and continuing to make the changes that will help us do more good.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to your feedback <\/a>and our partners at <\/span>Emerald Brand<\/span><\/a>, a company specializing in revolutionary eco-friendly products, we are officially ditching inflated plastic packing material. While those little air-filled plastic bubbles might be fun to pop, they’re not exactly environmentally friendly. We\u2019re excited to announce that your goods will now be shipped using Emerald Brand paper-based packing material made with 80 percent post-consumer fibers, which is not only recyclable, but also compostable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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According to Shao Li, a director of operations here at UncommonGoods, consumer demand for environmentally friendly initiatives are on the rise. \u201cEmerald\u2019s eco-friendly and cost effective solutions in the packaging category, [which use] recycled and compostable substances, provide UncommonGoods with a greener, healthier, plastic-free packaging solution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

We’ve been looking forward to this change for quite a while. On account of testing, data collecting, and final decision making, this transition has been nearly two years in the making.\u00a0During this time, we monitored outgoing shipments packed with paper to ensure that our goods traveled from Brooklyn to your home in one piece. We also kept an eye on the health and safety within our own warehouse. <\/span>Unlike other environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic, this packaging doesn’t compromise our warehouse team’s health through the use of dangerous blades or by putting an unhealthy amount of cardboard dust in the air.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n

By improving our packaging, we\u2019re Building for the Long-Term<\/strong> and using our business as a Force for Good<\/strong>, two of our Guiding Principles. Learn more about our company values here<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to the new material,\u00a0we don’t have to choose between customer satisfaction, team member well-being, or what’s best for the planet, explained Sean Cullen<\/a>, who leads UncommonGoods\u2019 Sustainability Steering Committee: \u201cAfter years of searching for a suitable alternative to plastic bubble, we are excited that this shipment packaging is a win-win-win situation.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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Operations Team Lead Arnold Pittman and UncommonGoods Founder and CEO David Bolotsky using inflated plastic, our previous packing material. Photography by Christopher Lane, American Express Open Forum<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

E-commerce is expected to create the strongest demand for\u00a0protective packaging<\/a> in the next five years. While we know there’s still work to do, we’re excited for a solution that is less taxing on the planet and easier to recycle. But don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what a year with our new packing materials will look like, according to our 2017 Annual Emerald Environmental Impact Statement:<\/p>\n

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Sources: US Energy Information Administration<\/a>, US Environmental Protection Agency<\/a>, USGS Water Science School<\/a>, and Emerald Brand<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Are you as excited about this new packaging as we are? Do you have other ideas on how our business can be a force for good? Your feedback helped us make this change and we want to hear your suggestions. Please reach out to us at feedback@uncommongoods.com<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are a lot of businesses that solely focus on profit… but we’re not one of them. Of course,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":59910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[1057,30,2345,31,1247],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59870"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59870"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60759,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59870\/revisions\/60759"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}