Be a Good Guest at Nature's Party
Enjoy yourself, but don't eat everything in the fridge!
Rapidly renewable resources replenish themselves to overcome depletion caused by usage, either through biological reproduction or other naturally recurring processes, in a human time scale. Uhhh, #saywhat?
It’s the “human time scale” part that really matters. Think of renewable resources as nature’s pantry, refilling itself naturally over time. It has the ability to magically re-stock itself, but only if we use things wisely.
For a resource to be renewable, it has to be able to grow back fast enough so that we don't run out. In reality, whether it’s plant fibers or biopolymers, the regrowth rate has to be faster than our consumption to maintain the balance.
Making eco-friendly packaging from renewable resources means using materials that nature can replace quickly. The goal is to use fewer items from nature's pantry that take longer to re-stock. Basically, eating more veggies and less Diamond Dusted Unicorn Crunch, as dee-lish as that may be. 🦄
This is different from recycling, where we try to re-use plastics that are often made from petroleum. Recycling is critical to help us live more sustainably and reduce waste, but it doesn't address the initial need for fossil fuels to make those types of plastic. Our good natured way is to make things using more renewable resources, less fossil fuel and no nasty chemicals.
If we use something faster than it grows back, there won't be enough.
we feel this way about weekends
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Understanding Renewable Resources
So where can we find nature's incredible refill station? 🌿
It's also important to consider whether today’s plant-based ingredient sources are truly renewable. Between potential pesticide use and mono crops, none of us want to replace fossil fuels with something that ends up getting depleted faster than we can replace it or does more damage than good. We get it.
As an example, we source our plant-based compostable packaging material known as PLA (polylactic acid), from NatureWorks. This material, called Ingeo, currently uses a type of corn crop and doesn’t require petroleum as a raw material. It’s made entirely from plant sugars, meaning carbon captured from the atmosphere by plants during photosynthesis.
But it's gotta be said, biotechnology is moving faster than a squirrel at a nut sale! The rate of development to make biopolymers and plant-based plastics from alternative plant sugars, agricultural waste and even carbon re-capture is only accelerating.
This is all great news because it's equally important to have diverse renewable resources to keep things in balance. A growing number of certifications are emerging to ensure that renewable resources are sustainably and responsibly managed. We keep our eyeballs on the horizon and introduce new renewable materials and certifications as they become commercially viable.
Bioplastics In the Circular Economy
Circular and Sustainable Packaging
A match made... right down here on earth! 😇
Adopting renewable materials in packaging reflects a broader shift away from linear systems in global manufacturing processes. The transition from using materials that cannot be replenished quickly is the right move for the planet, but also just makes good business sense!
A majority of consumers have told us they care about eco-friendly packaging, and they expect businesses to do the heavy lifting to find a packaging solution and reduce the negative impact on our environment. By using materials that can be renewed quickly and circulated through our manufacturing processes multiple times, we can reduce the amount of single-use packaging ending up in landfills.
When we commit to a circular economy mindset, everything we use to manufacture plant based food packaging and everything that lands in the hands of consumers can be purposefully designed to maximize the chance that it can get a new life (hopefully not as more plastic apparel, but we digress!).
Designing packaging with its next life in mind helps ensure there's a path for nothing to be wasted. At the end of one life, packaging made from renewable resources can be a valuable input to new packaging... or more renewable resources!
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