GenXmanager: Leadership for the Generation X Manager

Corporate sustainability is all the rage these days; and for good reasons. Not only can organizations reduce their negative impact on the environment; but they can also potentially boost profitability.

I bought a Poland Spring water recently and saw this on the label.

One could argue that bottled water in general is “bad” for the environment. I’m not going to defend or refute that claim. I simply want to draw attention to this type of creative thinking in order to help lessen negative environmental impact.

A smaller cap…who knew that a smaller cap contains 20% less plastic than the average cap on disposable bottled water? I’ll admit that the cap is a bit more difficult to open but I’ll survive. All organizations need to start looking at their packaging and determine how they can reduce materials used.

Here’s an example of packaging waste and an opportunity for improvement. This Christmas my daughter opened one gift after another. Some packages were huge but the product inside could easily fit in a 1 quart plastic bag. Is all that packaging really necessary? Can the company achieve the same branding and visibility with a different style of packaging that would reduce materials used?

Innovation is the bedrock of American capitalism. With a little ingenuity I believe companies can re-create product packaging to be more environmentally sound, cut costs, and perhaps even improve the overall package design to attract more customers.