Purpose of Packaging

Packaging serves a few other basic functions besides attracting attention. The main other purposes are to protect the product from damage, preventing theft or deterring theft of the product, and providing basic product information. For example the packaging of DVDs is such that it is very difficult to remove the disc in the store and thus their packaging is used as a strong theft deterrent. The packaging of a television is filled with Styrofoam and other packaging materials so that while the product is being shipped it cannot be damaged. The packaging of most food items most include basic health information and labels which aid the consumer in their choices or display the nutritional benefits of the product like Cheez-Its.

The two articles are suggesting that in a new era when people are starting to seriously consider environmental problems and the idea of true sustainability that some problems should be attacked at the source. The articles also suggest that packaging design should be considering the environment in its design process and not only the factors that I considered above. This means that they need to consider the materials and whether they can be re-used, when creating their packaging. Modifications to current practices could help check the flow of garbage, and create a lower level of garbage overall by creating packaging items that actually are recycled and by using packaging that is re-usable. These slight changes have the potential to have enormous environmental benefits such as reducing the trash in the ocean and creating a more sustainable society for future generations. We could easily modify many basic products to eliminate unnecessary packaging such as that on DVDs or to make the packaging re=usable.