Sometimes I think humans don’t deserve Earth. We were given the clean environment and the beauty of nature, but our very own people are slowly destroying it all. Many trees are illegally cut down, many factories are throwing out plant waste into the sea, animals are hunted (yes, illegally too), not to mention many of them are tested for product makings. Really, we don’t deserve Earth at all. As a person who works at a creative agency that helps other companies grow, I always advise my clients to make their businesses go friendly with the environments. Why? That’s because believe it or not, a business that holds the values of nature and environment, is a business that is most likely trusted and considered as reliable, which can further boost profits for the business. So, how do we create a business that cares for the nature? It is by implementing sustainable design in every aspect of business. When creating a business, design is the start of building your business concepts, ideas and outlines. Starting with product packaging design, brand stationery, business card and brochure design, as well as web design, you can take initiative move to add ‘green’ values to those designs. Keep reading to find out how!
Product design
When designing a product, you don’t only think about the ingredients you are using to make the product, but you also think about the design of the packaging and the strategy for increasing the ‘green factor’ into the design. The steps you should do are:
- Design an eco-friendly product packaging. Just giving you a piece of advice, many people support sustainable packaging, so make sure you go green in this one too.
- Use green materials. You can reduce landfill waste, save energy and win your customers’ hearts as well as maintain your health at the same time by using green materials like recycled aluminium.
- Repurpose your packaging. You can also adopt packaging method that can be repurposed later. In this modern time, we can have a packaging that we can eat. Evoware is one of the examples of a company that holds values for nature. The food packaging created by Evoware is made from seaweed which makes it nutritious if you eat it and biodegrades if you choose to throw it out. Or, you can use more sustainable packaging that can be reused for later purpose.
Web design
Who says the internet is the safe place for the environment? According to a study conducted by Greenpeace, if the Internet were a country, it would rank sixth in the world for energy usage! When working on web pages, computers have to run 24/7 and you also need large amount of energy. For that reason, you need to reduce the bad impact your website has on the planet. Some web hosting companies use carbon offsets to make up for the energy they use and others tap into renewable energy sources like wind and solar to power their servers. If you are already hiring a web hosting company, make sure to brief this matter with your web hosting specialist.
Eco-friendly business cards and brochures
Remember what I told you about brand identity? Just like what I said, brand identity represents who you are and what values and impacts you bring to your customers or other people in general that makes you different from your competitors in the same industry. Therefore, promoting a good cause by taking part in it also shows who you are. For that reason, it should also all be written in your business cards and brochures and by ‘written’, I meant making eco-friendly business cards and brochures. Using recycled and eco-friendly print materials is a good start. You can also use paper from trees that are harvested under the Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI). Papers processed in the SFI don’t use harmful bleach and chlorine agents. Plant-able seed business card is also a creative choice to maintain a sustainable design.
Sustainable design can not only boost profits in a more effective and friendly way but it can also increase your love for nature. When a company holds great values for nature and a good cause, it will also increase brand awareness and values, making it more reliable and valuable.