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6 Tips to Make Your Products More Sustainable

From the 2014 International Home & Housewares Show

Green Dot Sales Representative Sarah Harbaugh attended the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago. The show is the world’s premier housewares marketplace, featuring 2,100 exhibitors from 34 countries. Sarah went to the show to meet with company representatives and discuss their goals and achievements in making their products more sustainable. A recent survey found that 78% of consumers questioned said they buy green products or services.

Companies both large and small are seeking to attract these customers using more sustainable design, materials, and packaging for their products. Here are just a few of the ideas that were discussed.

How to Make A Product Sustainable

1. Source materials more locally to decrease transportation emissions and costs.
2. Use reclaimed, post-industrial grades of plastic instead of virgin materials when possible.
3. Reduce the amount of material needed through part design.
4. Fill it up!! Natural fillers such as wood, starch, flax, switchgrass, etc. can add great aesthetics to the product, increase biocontent, and reduce the amount of plastic by up to 50%.
5. When possible, select a compostable plastic.
6. Select minimalistic packaging made from material that can be, or have already been recycled or reclaimed.

Green Dot offers a variety of bioplastics that meet these criteria. Our Terratek® line features wood composites, starch composites, and compostable bioplastics optimized for injection molding and extrusion applications.

Each product can be purchased as is or customized for your exact need in addressing the sustainable goals of your company.

Want to learn more about creating sustainable plastics? Request a consultation with one of our sustainability experts today or download our white paper, Creating Sustainable Plastics Without Sacrificing Quality or Cost.