Less Is More: Packaging vs' Product

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Less Is More Packaging vs. Product
Graphs
Abstract Packaging serves to preserve the
freshness and cleanliness of various goods and
products to allow for their long-distance
transportation. However, it has come to represent
about one third of municipal waste in the United
States, according to a study done at Tufts
University. After the products are opened and
used, their packaging is discarded, littering and
polluting the land and water of the Earth. After
observing over-packaged products, we have focused
our efforts on developing new package plans for
selected brands of cereals and razors. These
plans will include placing a logo on the outside
of the product which would contain weight ratio
of product to package, recyclable material
content, location of manufacturer of product, and
if the packaging is recyclable.

• Facts about packaging
• An estimated 8 billion pounds of plastic bags,
  wraps and sacks enter the waste stream every year
  in the U.S. alone.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  estimates that about 31 of all municipal solid
  waste in 2005 was generated from
  packaging-related material. This breaks down to
  about 39 million tons of paper/paperboard, 13.7
  million tons of plastic, and 10.9 million tons of
  glass.
• Packaging and containers makes up about 56 of
  all plastic waste. About 75 of all of the waste
  comes from residential households.
• The average product travels 15,000 miles during
  manufacturing and distribution before making it
  to a store shelf.
• Facts About Cereal Packaging
• Americans buy 2.7 billion packages of breakfast
  cereal each year. If laid end to end, these empty
  cereal boxes would stretch to the moon and back.
• Every ton of cardboard recycled saves 17 trees,
  7000 gallons of water, 2 cubic yards of landfill
  and 4100 kilowatt/hours of electricity.
• Facts About Razor Packaging
• The Gillette Fusion Razor won Environment
  Victorias Golden DUMP (Dangerous and Useless
  Materials in Packaging) award for its excessive
  use of packaging.

Possible Logos
Survey Results
Survey An informal survey was conducted on July
3rd, 2008, which was used to determine the
predominant attitudes towards packaging in
various age groups. These results are shown in
the graph above.
Lucia Bragg, Daniela Cassataro, Priyanka
Desirazu, Chrissy Ford, Melissa Guziak, Sherilyn
Hellberg, Ashley Lantigua, Kathleen Lee, Sammy
Rao, Josie Schneider
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Bibliography (Facts) http//www.lavasurfer.com/bch
of/hof-book.html http//www.earth911.org/plastics/
facts-about-plastic-packaging/ http//www.brookes.
ac.uk/eie/index.htm http//www.nzherald.co.nz/topi
c/story.cfm?c_id614objectid10482213
Researchers Lucia Bragg Daniela
Cassataro Priyanka Desirazu Chrissy Ford Melissa
Guziak Sherilyn Hellberg Ashley Lantigua Kathleen
Lee Sammy Rao Josie Schneider