Televisions, tablets and toys…oh my! During the holiday season, people do a lot of shopping. Many of the items people buy come in some type of intricate package that takes everything short of a surgical procedure to open. Although I don’t deal with package design in my work, I see the effects of it every day at the landfill.

Is plastic packaging recyclable? 

Did you know that nearly 40 percent of trash entering landfills is made up of paper products? That includes cardboard. Think about all of the cardboard used in packaging. Besides the product itself being in cardboard, it is likely contained in a larger cardboard box during delivery. Cardboard boxes, as well as most other paper products, can be recycled.

As designers, our job is to think about not only what a package will look like on the shelf, but how it will get from point A to point B.

“Distribution is an essential part of all printed graphics – and yet something that graphic designers almost never consider,” said Brian Dougherty in Green Graphic Design.

Read about Rumpke's sustainability solutions for businesses.

We should also consider the distribution of messages. When we want to communicate a message to a customer, we sometimes send information through the mail. An efficient and “green” way of doing this is by designing a self-mailer that is folded and tabbed so it doesn’t need to be stuffed in an envelope. This method saves time, money and natural resources. For details about designing a self-mailer, visit usps.com.

So, think about the Earth during this season of giving. I’ll do my part as a graphic designer if you do yours as a consumer. Deal?

Click here for more tips on clean and green design.

About the author: Maria Perkins is a graphic designer at Rumpke.