{"id":16507,"date":"2014-05-26T16:11:12","date_gmt":"2014-05-26T22:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=16507"},"modified":"2014-05-26T16:11:12","modified_gmt":"2014-05-26T22:11:12","slug":"sustainable-packaging-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/sustainable-packaging-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Toss that Box – Eat It! Designing Sustainable Packaging"},"content":{"rendered":"

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If there were two words that summed up the year for Dell back in 2011<\/a> (when Derek Markham and I participated in one of their CAP programs), it wouldn’t have been “laptop computer” or “virtual hosting” or even “Michael Dell”… but “mushroom packaging<\/a>.” OK, the company may disagree with me, but the concept of turning agricultural waste and mushrooms into a polystyrene foam-like substance<\/a> \u00a0that could protect larger products and the be tossed in the compost bin\u00a0after use really captured the attention of the green blogosphere.<\/p>\n

No doubt material scientists were involved in this venture, as well as logistics managers, designers, and perhaps a salesperson or two: developments this unique don’t just happen in a lab or a conference room. Dell and Ecovative needed to bring together a range of people – from within their companies and the computer maker’s customer base – to get a wide range of input into this venture. Sounds chaotic… no doubt a number of project managers had their hands full!<\/p>\n

Designing Sustainable Packaging in a Virtual Lab\/Conference Room\/Design Studio\/Focus Group<\/h3>\n

I don’t know the details of how these companies managed this particular project, or how other “sustainable” developments in packaging – ranging from recycled paperboard (pretty sustainable) to corn-based plastics (maybe not so much) – kept the workflow moving smoothly, but I’m guessing many of the people involved would’ve loved a tool like\u00a0Dassault Syst\u00e8mes’Perfect Package 3DExperience solution<\/a>. A virtual workspace that allows for management of all steps in the process of developing a packaging solution, Perfect Package\u00a0provides a space for\u00a0design, engineering, marketing, shipping, and others to come together, collaborate, model, and manage innovation. Here’s Solution Experience Director Eric Seiberling’s description:<\/p>\n

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