If you follow us on Instagram or have received one of our bike planters in the last few weeks, you may have seen that we've changed our packaging for our bike planters. And the best part is, its reusable and recyclable!
This has been a continuing project since we started making bike planters about 4 years ago. When we decide how to package our items, we have a few things we have to consider:
- How does it look?
- Does it convey what the product is in a quick and visually appealing way?
- How does it hold up in shipping?
- Does it make you happy when you see it?
- Does it make you happy when you open the box from your online order to see it?
- How does it look in stores?
- Does it take a lot of work to assemble?
- How does it hold up in shipping to be displayed well in stores?
- What are the environmental impacts of our packaging?
- How much does it cost to make?
We weren’t really happy with our previous packaging. We had different packaging that we used for retail and for online orders, and always found it to be kind of dull. Since its a unique product, we had trouble finding precedents to look at when designing it.
The solution we arrived at, that we’re finally happy with, is packaging our bike planters in small polypropylene jars. This solution solves the problem of displaying the product well, and is also very sturdy for shipping. We hope that it will make people happy to see, and the cost to package our bike planters like this is similar to our older, much duller packaging.
The environmental cost of our packaging though is where we are most improved I think. Our previous packaging was a plain brown stamped box (for online orders), and a clear box with an insert for retail orders. While the brown boxes were recyclable, the plastic ones and their insert were not. Neither were really sturdy enough to be reused either. They also took a long time to assemble, and were kind of a pain to keep track of. We’re happy to have found a solution that is both reusable and recyclable (plastic #6).
Since our new packaging is reusable, we wanted to share with you our favorites ways to reuse it so far:
- As a terrarium or a planter.
- To hold small craft knick-knacks.
- To organize small parts in your workshop.
- To protect your bike planter while you're not riding, to keep it safe while not in use.
- These jars are foodsafe, so they can hold snacks! They can also be washed in the dishwasher on the top rack.
There are of course other way to reuse our packaging, but this what we've explored so far! If you've found a creative way to reuse it that you would like to share, please tag us on instagram as @wearableplanter, or twitter as @wearplants, or share in the comments!