After much anticipation here at Indigo, the paper banding machine has arrived! It may not sound (or look) like much, but this is going to save us a lot of time and plastic.
The journey to finding this handy little machine started this past summer. My cousin, Maryann, was undergoing a personal effort to reduce her household waste, particularly plastics. Surprised by what seemed like needless plastic wrap around products being shipped to her, she asked me how Indigo handles our packaging. At the time, I told her that, sadly, we use quite a bit of plastic wrap to protect the product from damage during shipping (travel is not very kind on paper products). However, this started the wheels turning…surely there had to be a way to secure our products in shipping without the use of so much plastic.
A few months later, we found the perfect solution! (The machine being in high demand, we had to wait a few months on back order). This little paper bander looks better than our previous packaging and is going to reduce our plastic use. But the best part…it’s quick! We are already shaving minutes off of every order we package…this adds up to a lot of time. It’s a win for us (time and money…and it looks good), a win for our customers (its efficient and reduces non-recyclable waste they otherwise have to deal with) and a win for the environment (less plastic).
Thank you, Maryann, for the inspiration to look for a better alternative!
For more information on plastic waste (and beautiful infographics), check out www.unenvironment.org/interactive/beat-plastic-pollution/
