Target announced April of 2010 that they were going to roll out a nationwide recycling program in the front of each of its 1,740 U.S. stores. The program was divided into 4 stations: aluminum, plastic and aluminum, one for regular trash, plastic bags had its own, and the last one was for MP3 players, cell phones and ink cartridges. The goal of this program was to reduce unnecessary waste from their stores and communities. Target also has the goal of becoming a more sustainable company overall by creating efforts to reduce their environmental footprint.

So how has this program performed a year later? More than 170 million shopping bags, 700 tons of bottles and cans, and almost 2 million small electronics were recycled. Target has made great progress in developing a plan that has produced this much success in only one year. Target has made an impressive commitment to becoming a more sustainable and eco-friendly company.

Sustainable packaging is now getting a voice on issues related to green packaging. Big companies have joined forces to help make the packaging industry more eco-friendly. ConAgra, Colgate-Palmolive, DuPont, Kellogg, and Proctor & Gamble are among the companies that have formed AMERIPEN, The American Institute for Packaging and the Environment. This organization plans to lobby for science-driven packaging policies and reach out to others to find ways to work together. The key issues are to find ways to improve sustainability of packaging and how to reduce waste.

AMERIPEN is trying to enhance sustainability initiatives and help save the environment by producing eco-friendly packaging. The efforts in finding ways to reduce waste and minimizing the impact on the environment are the two of the main reasons this organization was formed. They also hope to play the role of influencing opinion leaders to further improve the packaging industry’s value chain. The packaging value chain is rapidly changing as eco-friendly and sustainable trends are among us. As we become a society trying to find ways to save our environment, AMERIPEN is here to do their part, within the packaging industry.

The new trend in this day and age is going green and being eco-friendly. Every day new concepts and technology is created to help the environment and reduce waste. This trend is becoming stronger for 2011, as the population becomes more concerned about the environment. The new year is bringing innovative ways to go green.

Here are 15 ways to make the new year more eco-friendly:

1. Become educated about how to become more environmentally friendly. Read blogs, research issues, and contribute your thoughts to the matter.
2. Consider new lifestyle habits instead of sticking with old ones. Try to break free from chronic global clutter and excessive consumerism.
3. Find do it yourself ways to make things instead of buying them.
4. Avoid fast food restaurants and try to cook at home. They may be cheap and quick outlets, but the industry is responsible for contributing billions of tons of waste annually to our planet.
5. Stop wasting food. Buy less if you can’t consume it, freeze leftovers, or give excess to someone who needs it.
6. Try working vegetarian food into your diet and help reduce the overall demand for factory farmed protein. Try to commit to a plant based lifestyle for a day or a week, or a full year if your feeling veggie.
7. Household items may collect dust, but avoid throwing them away. Instead, donate them, sell them, or ask a friend or relative if they might want your unwanted items.
8. Recycle old and outdated clothing by refashioning them. Create unique pieces of clothing or accessories out of your old clothing and accessories. What could have been thrown away could now be a new fashion statement.
9. Think carefully before you throw something into the garbage. Ask yourself “Is there a way that I can turn this into a valuable resource?”
10. Try to bike and walk or run more instead of relying on gas.
11. Clean with simple and pure ingredients and steer away from air fresheners that release vast amounts of volatile organic compounds. Plants are a great way to filter your air.
12. Buy a water filter and drink real water. Avoid buying bottled water, instead use a real glass from a real faucet.
13. RECYCLE
14. Become apart of consumer conscious programs such as TerraCycle, RecycleBank, NuRide, MyEex, and Neighborhood Fruit. These are just a few groups that help the planet.
15. Finally, share your eco-friendly efforts with others. There may be something you do that others may benefit from, and vise versa. Spread the word to help the environment.

When it comes to running a successful business, communication is key. Without open and accessible communication, assignment completion fails and misunderstandings occur.

Sunrise Packaging is all about communication, externally and internally. While e-mailing and visiting desk-to-desk and person-to-person is extremely important to our internal communications, we have adopted some alternative communications methods that may be of interest to you and your business as well.

• External Chat: The external chat system allows visitors to our Web site or our e-commerce site to have a live chat online with one of our customer service representatives. Any immediate questions that customers may have are addressed in a quick, friendly manner that saves customers time makes sure that they feel comfortable with the information they are receiving.
• Chat: One of our newest communications ventures is an internal chat system. With our external chat up and running smoothly, we determined that an internal chat would be desirable for quick questions and responses as well as clarifications and checking in on work progress. Since its implementation, our internal chat system has increased efficiency in quick messaging.

Effective communication increases work efficiency and productivity. It reduces errors and misunderstandings between both co-workers and customers. Cut down on waste by getting it right the first time with effective communication.

I recently came across a site for Zero Waste Week, which started on Monday and concludes this Sunday. All week long, people across the world have been making small changes in their lives to eliminate or reduce their amount of waste. By coming together and taking these small steps, we can reduce the amount of waste thrown into the landfills and become more environmentally-responsible.

Last year, they offered prizes and incentives for people who participated, but this year, they wanted to try something different. There are no incentives, because they want people to want to help the environment by reducing the amount of waste generated and sent to the landfills. This way, they hope for people to continue in their efforts long after Zero Waste Week is over, rather than just doing it now for a prize.

You can reduce waste by using durable, reusable packaging or by making sure that it is recyclable and made from recycled materials. We can all work on doing our part to reduce waste and help the environment. Have any ideas to reduce waste even more? Let us know!

Christmas is still months away, but Nestle is already thinking about their seasonal packaging and going green for the holidays. In the past, chocolate makers have often been known for wasteful and unnecessary packaging, especially for special seasonal promotions. This is the new target to work on, and Nestle is going at it.

According to Food Production Daily, Nestle will be making all of its Christmas selection custom boxes fully recyclable. One change they made was removing the plastic inserts that held the chocolate bars in place and replacing them with a card presentation tray. This way, the chocolate can still be nicely displayed in the custom box and be easily recycled when you are finished with it. This is one step for Nestle to be more environmentally-friendly in their packaging to reduce waste and address the concerns of their environmentally-conscious customers.

Pepsico has put its money where its mouth is when it comes to more environmentally-friendly packaging.

They have introduced Aquafina Bottled Water bottles that use 50% less plastic than before. While bottled water is not the most environmentally-friendly option, their new “Eco-Fina” bottle is a step in the right direction by reducing the amount of waste generated from plastic water bottles.

And their Frito-Lay division is launching a new compostable bag for SunChips Multigrain chips that will decompose in weeks in a compost. Frito-Lay is rolling out the launch of the new bag, and they anticipate it being the standard SunChips bag world-wide by Earth Day 2010.

When it comes to packaging, a different shape or size package can accomplish many things.

1. Use less materials to be more environmentally-friendly.  Cutting down on the amount of materials being used can play a huge impact, rather than simply switching materials.
2. It works better for the consumer.  Shorter boxes will fit in kitchen cupboards and pantries better by take up less room.
3. Using less materials can cut down on costs.
4. Differentiation can help your product stand out on the shelf over the competition.

(Picture found at: Packaging Matters)

In the above example, Kellogg’s is testing a box of a different shape.  It holds the same amount of cereal, uses less packaging material, fits into kitchen cupboards better, and it makes a great first impression.  This cuts down on costs and generates less waste to be more eco-friendly.

If it turns out that the box will also help little tykes spill less cereal on the table, Kellogg’s has really got a winning design!

When we think of being “green” and environmentally-friendly, we think of the 3 R’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle.  TreeHugger showed some ways that companies are offering reusable packaging in a new way, in which the packaging is actually a part of the product itself.

With this product, lite2go by knoend, the clear packaging is actually the lampshade for the lamp:

This design, created by Tom Ballhatchet, utilizes the box that the TV is packaged in as a stand for the TV with shelves for your DVD cases or Blu-Ray cases:

With this laptop in a bag, HP won Wal-Mart’s Reduced Packaging Award for its Pavilion dv6929.  Instead of coming in a box with styrofoam inserts, this laptop comes in a reusable messenger bag (made from recycled fabric) with a few plastic bags inside to hold the parts.  With this design, HP was able to reduce the conventional packaging by 97 percent:

Steve Haslip designed the HangerPak, so that the packaging that holds the product can also be used for the product; the package transforms into a hanger for the t-shirt inside:

Although I’m not too keen on the idea of sitting on a cardboard chair, I do give props to David Graas for coming up with a line of flat packaging that can be put together into furniture:

These are all examples of how companies are encouraging customers to reduce waste by reusing the packaging of their products for other purposes.  By doing this and recycling when you are finished, you can be on your way to being more eco-friendly.

As we celebrate our nation’s holiday this year, let’s have fun and honor our country, without harming our environment.  The Environmental Blog provided 5 tips for a “green” 4th of July:

1.  Buy organic food. Support local farmers markets by buying their organic fruits and vegetables.  Buy local and cut down on transportation.  You could even shop with reusable shopping bags.

2.  Bust out the silverware. Avoid wasting paper plates, napkins, cups, and plastic utensils.  Save money by using your own plates and washing them.  If you must use disposable plates and cups, try to find biodegradable alternatives.

3.  Grill on the “green” side. Use a non-toxic cleaner on your grill. Cut back on grilling and carbon emissions by eating fresh veggies, or grill food that will cook quickly, such as thin meats, fish, marshmallows, or veggies.

4.  Buy “green” charcoal. Use 100% all-natural hardwood lump charcoal.  They don’t have any chemicals or fillers, they burn faster, and produce less ash.  This leftover ash from all-natural charcoal can be sprinkled around your plants to keep the bugs away.

5.  Substitute lighter fluid. Try using a chimney starter, instead of toxic lighter fluid.  They are inexpensive and you don’t have to worry about the toxic fluids cooking into your food.

Don’t forget to use these tips and add a little “green” to your red, white, and blue festivities this year.  Not only would you be more environmentally-friendly, but you could save money as well!