Food will be used for Food Packaging! Hope and Concerns

Have you ever thought over these things while opening the wrap of a food product?

The packaging will go to the landfills, adding up to the 60 billion pounds of wastage being collected annually.
The leftover of your food will add up to the 40% food waste.
Plastic packaging may contaminate the food inside.

These things are translated into three key concerns—plastic waste, food waste, and plastic packaging which contaminates food.

All of them are mostly associated to the food we eat.

And the solution lies in the food itself.

The excess food will be used in future to make food packaging. This way, it will not only minimize plastic waste, but also turn out to be a safe and chemical free option for food packaging. It is being termed as edible or bio-gradable food packaging.

It is somewhat like killing three birds with one stone!

Many entrepreneurs and researchers have working to create a packaging from foods like milk, tomato peels, kelp, and mushrooms.

How Edible Food Packaging Will Be Like?

This new kind of packaging will be edible and soluble as well, given that it is prepared from food. For example, The United States Department of Agriculture is developing a material from milk protein, which can be used to line pizza boxes which look like extra cheese. Likewise, there may be soluble soup packets that can be simply dipped in hot water. Another striking benefit is that edible food packaging can be used for plants as fertilizer.

Edible Food Packaging is ready to make its Way to Market from Labs!

Evowarel, an Indonesian enterprise, has created an edible packaging from seaweed which can be eaten along with the food products. Termed as edible grade bioplast, these packaging are said to be rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals. However, they are tasteless, odorless and can last for years. The enterprise has considered its edible packaging fit for coffee, seasoning sachet, burger/rice wrap and sugar.

Italian researchers, on the other hand, are using tomato skins to create a polish that can protect food packaged in the metal cans.

Ecovative has come with it its packaging materials that are made from mycelium fungus found in mushrooms.

At Harvard, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering has obtained chitosan, a polysaccharide, from shrimp and lobster shells and blended it with silk fibers to make a substitution for plastic packaging, termed as Shrilk.

Skipping Rocks Lab, a British start-up, has been working over an edible water bottle named as Ohoo. It is being prepared from edible seaweed. The company is looking forward to create edible containers to hold juices, cosmetics and other liquids.

But Clouds of Skepticism are also there…

Unarguably, edible food packaging will be a great step in protecting health and environment from plastic and lowering the food waste. However, it is surrounded by various concerns regarding its usage and market adaptability.

For example, The Agriculture Department has tried to build milk protein based films over a decade ago. But they had to shelve the project as they failed to find customers for this product. Big firms like PepsiCo and Nestlé are also doubtful about the success of such type of packaging.

“Some of the stuff out there is just gimmick. They sound nice but will never be cost-competitive or, in a final analysis, don’t have the impact on waste or the environment that the people making them a promise.”said David Strauss, the head of packaging in Nestlé’s US operations.

Nestlé also raised the issue of food security associated with edible food packaging as they believe that it would lead to widespread hunger. “It’s no good to package our products in a packaging that could instead have been used to feed people,”Mr. Strauss expressed his concern.

Will biodegradable or edible food packaging withstand harsh weather? Can they keep food quality intact? Will their content seep into the packed food?

These are some questions that should be answered in order to convince the suppliers and customers to buy food products with edible packaging. As they said that every cloud has a silver lining.

The organizations and researchers are doing their best to make edible packaging ideal for common use like its plastic counterparts.

Why Learning from Paper is Still Thriving in Age of Tablets?

Over the past some years, technology has become an integral part of the classrooms across the USA. It is common to see students using tablets, laptops and other devices to read, write and learn. In this ever increasing technology intrusion, it is obvious to think that paper will be out of the scene, sooner or later. However, it seems impossible as students are still choosing to do their important learning on paper. According to a recent study, paper is still important to productive learning.

The Paper and Packaging Board found in its survey conducted over 4,300 respondents (including students, teachers and parents) that paper is still important in classroom. Some of the key findings of the survey are:

Over 90% parents believe paper is essential to their kids to do good in study.
72% parents admit that their kids are not comfortable with computer based homework.
88% parents agree that their kids remember paper assignment better.
70% junior school students prepare for tests with handwritten notes.
93% college students prefer paper for achieving educational goals.
50% college students state they learn best by writing info down by hand.

Why paper is useful for the learning of the students?

Maryanne Wolf, development psychologist and cognitive scientist at Tufts University, explains,” There is physicality in reading, maybe even more than we want to think about as we lurch into digital reading—as we move forward perhaps with too little reflection. I would like to preserve the absolute best of older forms, but know when to use the new.”

According to Dr. Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics at American University, “Print is tailor-made for helping us read continuously, concentrate, puzzle out concepts and contemplate the significance of what we have read.”

Putting in other way, paper is engaging, interactive, easy and encouraging medium of learning.

Here we have listed and explained such benefits of using paper for learning…

Paper Doesn’t Distract Your Focus:

Learning on digital screen is not easy due to several distractions like an urge to play the game popping up on the screen or brightness problems. Then, the kid may want to play the song or check the tabs holding social media profiles. But that is not in a case of paper.

It is Useful in Exam Preparation:

Students often use paper for exam preparations to grasp the information easily. For example, they use handouts, study sheets, notecards and lecture slides. One of the reasons is that a person remembers or digests the things better when he notes them down on elsewhere like paper.

Rebecca Mieliwocki, National Teacher of the Year 2012, says,” With the advent of so much technology that makes learning more interactive and vibrant, we forget that sometimes the best way to remember things is by simply writing them down. Unlike typing, the act of writing down information increases retention of that information and stores more of it into working and long-term memory.”

Comfortable for Parents When it Comes to Help Kids in Study:

The world has been using paper for over 2,300 years. The paper is like a legacy of the past generations. There is no tutorial necessary to use paper, unlike digital devices. It is easy to access and use. This is why parents who have little to no digital literacy prefer paper to teach their kids.

So you must have understood why paper is and always will be preferred by the students when it comes to academic learning.

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5 Packaging Tips to Make Your Product Attractive to Buyers

Packaging is the first thing a customer sees while shopping your product. In fact, it influences his or her buying decision. A customer is likely to shop the products with best, attractive and clear packaging. A great packaging can be a factor (other than quality) to make buyers willing to pay bit more.

Poor quality packaging leaves an impression that the product is of poor quality.

As you know that packaging also protects your products when being handled and shipped to the various locations, making sure your customer receive them intact.

This is why packaging matters both in terms of brand value and product safety.

Therefore, you should be extremely careful while planning the packaging for your products. Keep these things in mind to give your product a great packaging.

Who is Your Customer?

First and foremost, think about your customer. Who are they? How your product can help them? Are they kids? Are they woman or someone age 55+? For example, if your product is designed for an auto mechanic, a packaging with bright pink and purples and cursive fonts on the labeling may not attract your core audience. Apart from that, you need to think over the functionality of the product.

Consider the Functionality:

How functional is your packaging? Here functionality of the product means the ease of use, store and carry.

The more functional the packaging, the more sales it gets. For example, Heinz ketchup bottle is also available in sachets for on the go customers. Or the face wash is both available in tube and dispenser container.

To get a better idea on this aspect, take a look at the market and try to find out the ways to improve the functionality of your products packaging. You can win over many customers just because of the practicality of your product.

Be Honest:

True. A wrapper is the way to present your product in the best possible way. However, it doesn’t mean that it misleads the buyers. For example, most of the companies show a cookie drenched in chocolate syrup on the packaging of their simple chocolate flavored biscuit. You shouldn’t go overboard with such exaggeration. Showing your product 100 times better than the actual content may result in customers’ disappointment. Eventually, you end up with poor sales and shattered brand image.

Here comes honesty. Customers will not have any prejudice against simple and inexpensive products, as long as they are aware of what they are buying.

Clear Typography:

The fonts and graphics of the packaging are important as they influence the customer’s buying decision. So, you need to work over your packaging’s typography. Make sure the letters look legible and readable as well. A customer may have trouble to read the fancy letters in one go in a single glance. Keep in mind that the color of your font should well with the overall appearance and color of the packaging.

Understand Your Competitors:

Read your competitor’s strategies regarding packaging. It will help you learn their design elements they are using in their packaging. Take a note of the packaging of the less successful brands to find out the design mistakes you can avoid in your products.

With the help of these packaging tips, you will not only improve the appearance of your product but also gain customer’s trust and attraction.

Medical Waste: Segregation and Disposal Guide

US Environmental Protection Agency defines medical waste as “a subset of wastes generated at health care facilities, such as hospitals, physicians’ offices, dental practices, blood banks, and veterinary hospitals/clinics, as well as medical research facilities and laboratories.”

Medical waste is a broad term that covers…

Sharps like needles and syringes
Pathological waste like human tissues, organs and animal carcasses
Infectious waste like blood and other bodily fluids
Chemicals like laboratory preparation, disinfectants and heavy metals in medical devices
Radioactive waste

Hospitals in the USA generate 5.9 million tons of medical waste every year!

Medical waste is highly infectious in nature and is a potential threat to health and environment. According to W.H.O, 15 percent of the medical waste is infectious, radioactive and hazardous.

Therefore, a safe disposal of medical waste is very important for your health care facility. No only this minimizes the risk to public health, but also helps you avoid legal penalties regarding the healthcare waste.

Biohazard bags and containers are efficient and affordable way to segregate and dispose the medical waste. Such things help you simplify your medical waste management, especially when it is confusing to legally and safely store and disposal your healthcare waste.

First of all, make sure you have a separate bag for each type of medical waste:

Red Medical Waste Disposal Bags for Anatomical Waste:

Red biohazard bags should be used for anatomical waste being disposed by incineration. Such medical waste includes human body fluids like semen, vaginal secretions and saliva; human tissue and organs. Apart from anatomical waste, you can dispose of items like specimen swabs, urine dipsticks, blood-soaked drapes and gloves in a red bag.

However, you should not place other wastes like needles, cans, trash, heavy metals and pathological waste in your biohazard bag. These bags should be collected and disposed by licensed medical waste contractors, instead of throwing them to city waste collection bins.

Yellow Medical Waste Disposable Bags for Clinical Waste:

Use yellow biohazard bags to dispose of clinical and highly infectious waste like wipes, gloves, dressing, bandages and aprons or garments contaminated with contagious body fluids.

White Medical Waste Disposable Bags for Dental Waste:

Such bags are used to collect dental amalgam, mercury, contents of amalgam separators, old fillings, teeth with fillings and grindings.

Red Container for Sharps:

In case of disposing sharps like needles, razors, wires, trocars and surgical instruments, always use a durable red container. Don’t use plastic bags as they can be torn or punctured by the surgical equipment.

Black Disposable Bag for Mixed Municipal Waste:

Don’t mix food and kitchen waste, paper, disposable cups and drink cans, flowers, sandwich wrappers and other discarded daily use items with your medical waste. Instead, store them in a separate bag which should be placed at public access areas.

So, these are the ways to manage various types of medical waste being generated at your healthcare facility. Besides, follow these precautions while handling or managing these bins.

Make sure your medical waste bags comply the standards set by the state
Seal the bags properly. Don’t leave them open once they are full
Always wear the gloves while handling these bags
Keep the waste separated from each other
Make sure to label your waste container or bags. Besides, these bags should have a biohazard waste symbol imprinted on them.
Place the trash containers in a location away from public traffic
Keep the nearby area clean by using disinfecting
If anything mixes up with your medical waste, consider it as medical waste too.
Comply with your local or state laws regarding transport and disposal of medical waste.
If you are using corrugated boxes, make sure to seal the bottom flaps with a transparent packing tape. Mark arrow on them to distinguish the top and bottom.

6 Benefits of Plastic Bags

Plastic bags and its long term effects environment has been a contentious subject for quite a while. Plastic bags are not easiest of items to recycle. And there have been numerous arguments against the use plastic bags.

However, it can’t be denied that they are the most functional and convenient packaging option for businesses and consumers. From shopping, retailing to parceling, plastic bags is used around the world on a large scale. Nearly 500 billion plastic bags are used on a yearly basis, and most of them are used for shopping purpose.

So, the benefits of plastic bags can’t be overlooked just because they are potentially an environmental threat. The larger threat comes from the consumers not being socially responsible enough to discard their waste in a responsible manner. When it comes to the so called “single use bags”, I for one use many shopping bags for a multitude of purposes around my home. They are far from being “single use”. Most of my friends, family and neighbors have a “Bag of Bags” in their pantry. I’d bet you have one too. A larger argument could be made that the goods/items I purchase at my local grocery contains 100 times more plastic in the packaging vs. the one thin bag I use to carry those items home. None of those plastic packaging for those items get reused. That includes liners, trays, outer-wraps etc. Reuse and Recycle folks!

Here at iSellPackaging we have pondered over the benefits of plastic bags for both retailers and customers:

Good for Branding:

If you run a store or supermarket, it is pretty easy for you to print your business’s name, logo and other information on the plastic bags. And good thing is that it is simple to make changes in the design.

Cheaper than Paper or Cloth Packaging:

A piece of plastic bag will cost you no more than .25 cent which is much cheaper than a paper bag costing 5 cent or more per piece. You have to spend few dollars for reusable cloth bags. It means that purchasing plastic bags in bulk will be beneficial for your small business and profit margins.

Quicker to Open and Pack:

Plastic bags are quicker to open, pack and double up, saving you few seconds. This is why they are widely used by busy cashiers to keep lines moving efficiently. In addition, plastic bags take up less space than paper bags, both in storage and at cashier point. In contrast to the plastic bags, reusable cloth bags consume more space and are considerable heavier.

Biodegradable:

Most of the plastic bags are biodegradable, meaning that they can be broken down in a reasonable amount of time when thrown in the waste. They are decomposed in three years while an average time for an ordinary plastic bag to completely decompose is at least 500 years. This is because biodegradable bags are decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms. Biodegradable plastic bags leave no trace behind and are safe for the environment.

Consuming Less Energy:

The manufacturing process of plastic bag is energy efficient while the solid waste percentage is less. A plastic bag consumes up to 40% less energy to make and causes 70 % less solid waste than a paper bag.

Durable and Weatherproof:

Plastic bags are known for their durability. They are less vulnerable to tearing and are resistant to many chemicals. Plastic bags outperform paper or cloth bags when it comes to protect the contents from rain or water.

So, these are some incredible advantages of using plastic bags for your business and home.

Despite being an affordable and durable packaging solution, plastic bags would end up in landfill and ocean and pollute the planet.

In this scenario, you should reuse your plastic bags as much as possible before throwing them away. Leave the rest on the recycling.

It will help you avoid many downsides of using plastic bags, like their percentage to the waste and their inability to biodegrade when thrown away. It will also slow down the rate of the waste being piled up at landfills and ocean.

There are many benefits of plastic bags, and by recycling them thoroughly, both consumers and businesses can benefit from their utilization in an eco-friendly way.

Carton Box Packaging vs. Plastic Packaging: Which is Right for Your Business?

Carton box or plastic packaging?

Which one is right for your business’s packaging needs?

Well, the answer is not as straight as you are expecting. It requires you to take lot of things into considerations like weight, size, and texture while choosing the suitable packaging for your business.

You also like to know which is more eco-friendly, convenient, economical and suitable option for your products. To help you choosing the best packaging type for your business, we have come up with a quick comparison of these two types of packaging.

Let’s start it with carton box first…

Carton box is generally made of paperboard and sometimes of corrugated fiberboard. They are suitable packaging option for hardware, food, pharmaceuticals and other products. These boxes are similar to a cardboard but they are more durable and easy to handle than the latter. This is why these bags are widely used for packaging in the food industry as they are made with eco-friendly materials.

Carton Boxes are Cheaper and Eco Friendly:

Carton boxes are economical as they are made of recycled cardboard boxes. In simple words, packaging manufacturers assemble these boxes from the worn out boxes. By purchasing them, you not only save cost, but also help the environment. A full grown pine tree is cut down to make 38 kg of boxes you use.

Carton Boxes are Durable:

Carton boxes are known for their durability. They also handle the pressure well. You can line up them against each other without worrying about breaking the boxes.

Good for Your Branding:

You can easily stick your label on them due to their smooth surfaces. Besides, these boxes are made with lasting materials and can be used for years, thereby giving you an efficient marketing strategy.

But There are Some Cons Too…

Carton boxes are not weather proof, meaning that the water and other types of liquid can saturate these products which damage the contents.
These boxes are not looked as a good option for the packing of heavy materials.

Why Choose Plastic Packaging?

Plastic packaging has its own benefits. Like carton boxes, plastic packaging is the widely used for consumer goods. Here are some of the things making plastic a popular option for packaging:

Plastic is More Flexible:

One of the biggest advantages of plastic is its flexibility. Whereas cardboard is shaped to hold whole range of different contents, plastic has even more possibilities. It can be molded into different types of shapes.

Plastic Packaging Takes Up Less Space:

Generally, plastic packaging takes up less space which allows more things to be stored in the same area.

Plastic is Cheaper than Other Packaging Options:

Plastic won’t cost you much as other packaging materials do. It is manufactured in bulk, keeping the overall cost of this material to be low.

Some Disadvantages of Plastic Packaging…

It absorbs the flavor of the foods with strong flavor
It is not ecofriendly and takes up to 10 years to decompose
It can lose shape and crush under weight

Which is Right Packaging Solution for Your Business?

After going through the comparison between plastic and cardboard packaging, it may be easy for you to choose the right one. Carton box packaging is a suitable packaging option for food, dairy, cosmetics, hardware items, and pharmaceuticals.

On the other hand, plastic packaging is widely used in consumer packaged goods, home and garden, cosmetic and personal care supply and food and beverage packaging.

6 Ways To Celebrate Earth Day Everyday

Don’t you feel blessed to be born on planet Earth?

Of course, you must be proud of that, right?

But then, what excuse do you have to neglect the environment? Yes, knowingly or unknowingly, for years, you have been ruining the living conditions on Earth. While the world has just celebrated the Earth day few days back, do you think it is sufficient to make it clean once a year?

As compared to what Earth gives for free of cost, including air for breathing, soil for agriculture, and endless things, doesn’t it deserve one good thing every day?

So, if you are ready to pay your tribute to Mother Earth, for all those bestowed wonderful gifts, here is a list of things you can try in your daily life.

Start riding your bike

It was found in a study conducted by the European Cyclists Federation that cycling emissions are 10 times lower than those produced from driving. Hence, if everyone starts cycling on a regular basis, it would reduce carbon emissions up to a great extent. And with this, will also help restructuring the urban landscape.

Prepare your own garden

Thinking why, when you can get it is easily from the market? For this you need to know that an average carrot travels 1,800 miles to reach your dinner plate. So, you can now decide why you need to do so?

Yes, to save those plenty of miles which would else contribute to more carbon emissions, you can start nurturing your own edible garden. While you will enjoy fresh veggies, you will save Earth, simultaneously.

Decompose your kitchen scraps

Do you know, in United States, the food waste alone amounts to more than 30 million tons of waste? Yes, this amount enters the landfills, leading to severe problems for generations to come. Isn’t it is tragic? The food and yard waste can be easily recycled. Yes, it can be re-used and reduced by composting food scraps.

Pick a reusable bottle

Stop using those plastic disposable water bottles. Do you know you can save around 6 gallons of water using a single reusable water bottle? No doubt, the plastic bottles are recyclable. However, starts state another story. Around 88 percent of these bottles still end up in landfills. And this would take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade the same.

On the contrary, you can switch to reusable drink containers and eliminate the need for 100 disposable bottles per year. Isn’t that great!

Save light

You might be hearing this from long time, but even today, it is the best way to save energy and cut down the home energy costs. Simply start with turning off your lights when not in use. Then another move you can take is to switch from the traditional incandescent bulbs to the more energy-efficient CFLs and LEDs.

Reuse glass containers

A lot has been talked about recycling. But the silent fact is that reusing is better. Thus, it is advised to get into the habit of collecting glass jars and glassware. Reason being, you don’t need to buy excess of Tupperware for storing food and beverages.

Lastly, it is essential for you to understand that going green is not merely a trendy statement. In fact, it is the need of the hour. By changing your daily lifestyle and putting little to no efforts, you would be able to make your sufficient contribution. Go ahead!

How (and Why) to Bring Your Food Packaging to Life?

What you do with glass bottles, metal cans, disposable plates and egg cartons after use? You are likely to throw them out as they are of no use now.

Have you ever thought you can reuse your food packaging?

Yes, many items from your household waste can be used again. They can be used in home decorations or can be the part of the art and craft project of your children.

Besides, you can protect the earth from turning into the large dumping ground. This is because 486,116,066 tons of household waste is thrown out every year, meaning that 50 tons of garbage in a second.

The domestic garbage either ends up in ocean, goes to the landfills or burning plants. Such waste disposable methods can pose great threat to the environment, land and water.

And food packaging makes one third of the total domestic waste.

So, it simply means that reusing the food packaging can make a big difference.

Recycling Food Packaging

Which Food Packaging Can Be Recycled?

It is essential to know which food packaging is good for recycling. For example, glass bottles, cans and old egg cartons can be used again. But, what to do with greasy pizza boxes, worn out grocery bags and rusted pans? Can you use them again? Although these items are made of recyclable materials, you like to think twice.

In this scenario, you can contact your local municipal recycling service. However, recycling rules may vary from city to city (and can be confusing at the same time). You can check out the recycling database of world.org to know which food packaging can be used again.

A previous use of an item also helps you know if it can become new again. If a glass container that once contained jam has been washed off properly, it can be used again. However, you should throw the plastic wrap covered with two year old cheese.

What to Do with Your Food Packaging?

From home décor, gifts to crafts, there are many creative ways to use your food packaging again. For example, you can deck up a glass jar with some ribbon and voila to turn it into a beautiful vase. Similarly, toilet paper tubes can be made into seasonal craft products for children.

Here we have listed some of the awesome yet simple ideas to reuse the food packaging:

Seedlings Starters:

Recycled Seedlings Starters

Most of the food containers can be used in your home gardening. For example, you can use yogurt container or egg carton as seedling starters. All you need to make few drainage holes in the bottom of your container. Later, fill it with the seeds.

Birdhouses:

Recycled Birdhouses

A half-gallon milk carton can serve as your birdhouse. Cut a round hole about 1¼ inch in the center of one side nearly four inches from the bottom. Decorate the outside with stickers or paint. Hang it from a tree branch and enjoy bird watching throughout the year.

Office Storage:

Recycled Office Supplies

Jars can be used to store your office supply including paper clips, rubber bands, pens, pencil, and screws.

Luminaries:

Recycled Luminaries

Create a festive mood by putting lights or other candles in the bottom of glass jars.

Plant Containers:

Recycled Plant Containers

Your soft drink bottles, card boards and carton can be used as plant containers.

You can explore more awesome ways to recycle your food packaging at Pinterest.

Bottom Line:

With these simple recycling ideas, you not only bring “trash” back to life, but also reduce the domestic waste output. However, it is equally true that you can’t recycle some of the items again and again. Over the time, they will be worn out, meaning that you have to throw them away. So, it makes sense to create less waste by investing on the reusable things. For example, you can invest in reusable glass or rubber food storage containers and use them instead of plastic bags and wraps. Likewise, buy reusable water bottles and coffee mugs instead of plastic or disposable cups.

Plastic-eating caterpillar turns into a ‘hope’ to curb the plastic problem

You already know that using a plastic bag is not a viable option, right?

But why not use plastic bags?

In case, you don’t know, need not worry! You aren’t alone, but there are many people like you who may not necessarily be aware of why.

Basically, producing single-use plastic bags consumes vast amount of energy and resources. That’s not all! What more dreadful is that most of those plastic bags eventually find their way to the ocean and landfill, causing havoc and often death for animals, sea animals, fish, birds, etc.

So, the serious problem with these poly bags is their disposability. Being designed for a single use, they are a threat to the environment. And this is probably the biggest reason why governments are rising to the call to combat the terrible effects of discarded plastic bags.

The ban-game…

While majority of the governmental efforts are at the local level, however, there are some major governmental entities who are seriously taking big steps in this direction.

There are more than 40 countries including Mexico City, China, etc. where plastic bags are completely banned.
Then there are regions like Ireland and Toronto where added taxation is imposed on plastic bags.

No doubt, these efforts are highly appreciable. However, the desired results still appear far to reach, isn’t it?

Among all this, there is one great news arriving. Actually, scientists have found that a caterpillar, which is commercially bred for fishing bait, posses the ability to biodegrade polyethylene. Yes, the same, one of the toughest and most used plastics, which are usually, found clogging up the landfill sites in different form of plastic shopping bags.

What is the new solution to plastic bags?

The trillion polyethylene plastic bags are incredibly resistant to breaking down. But the researchers are on the track to find a solution, and this time they had found it to be with a caterpillar commonly known as a wax worm.

The study has been conducted in Spain’s Institute of Biomedicine & Biotechnology of Cantabria. Actually, Federica Bertocchini was normally working away at her side hustle, when she discovered that these tiny insects could make a huge dent in the Earth’s vast plastic problem.

How it was found?

There were a bunch of wax moths in her hives, which were basically kept to munch on the wax that her bees need to make honeycomb. In the same, in a plastic bag she dumped those pesky critters. And it was on her return, when she found that they’d eaten their way out of the bag. It was then she teamed up with biochemists, Paolo Bombelli and Christopher Howe, to find out if and how these creatures were truly digesting the plastic.

Finally, the results were published in Current Biology Monday, presenting the significant role these creatures could play in the fight against environmental waste.

The further study explained that these worms can do damage to a plastic bag in less than an hour. Moreover, it was also found that the wax worms were not only ingesting the plastic, but also chemically transforming the polyethylene into ethylene glycol. As far as the wax worms are concerned, these don’t eat plastic normally. But it is suspected that this happened due to the ability of their byproduct.

While the research is in continue mode, but it truly appears as a ray of hope to get rid of plastic shopping bags. Isn’t it?

Labeling- An important aspect for your products and business

Launching a new product? Or re-branding an older one?

Are your market-ready? Not sure? Then try answering these questions,

Does your product packaging explain what it carries?
Will the packaging add more to your product visibility?
Is it informational?
Will it appeal your new and old customers?

If you aren’t sure about any of these, you need to think over again. You might be missing something really important- LABELING?

Why labeling is important?

To understand the significance of labeling for your product promotion, it is first important to know what it actually means.

Basically, a label is a short and sufficient sales message from the shelf. It helps delivers your sales message directly to your users. And on the other hand, these labels help you brand, creating a trustworthy image for your product and business, altogether. For instance, will you buy a medicine without a label? Or will you purchase one which misses out on the expiry date?

Of course, NO! In a similar way, missing label or use of improper labels, can discourage buyers and hinder your brand accountability. Below are listed some factors explaining the importance of labeling in detail:

Eye-catchy product appearance:

In the cut-throat competition, labeling helps in marketing your product through attractive designing. A perfect label offer a very attractive look to your product and it catches the attention of the consumers too.

Easier product description:

How can you provide the most important information regarding your product? Yes, you guessed it right- a label allows you to highlight the necessary information in one go. Whether it is about the ingredients, its usage, manufacturing, batch number, or the cautions, you can mention everything.

Provides legal information:

Do you know it is necessary to offer statutory warning with some products? Yes, it is required by law. For example, ‘SURGEON GENERAL WARNING: Cigar Smoking Can Cause Lung Cancer and Heart Disease’ on the package of cigarette, or the ‘WARNING: This product can cause mouth cancer’ for smokeless tobacco.

Similarly, there can be various warnings which are must in a case of hazardous or poisonous products.

Helps build product/ brand identity:

You might be new the market, but your product is not. There will be so many competitors already offering similar stuff. How will you differentiate?

Its east with labeling! Your label defines you and your brand, making it easier for the customers to find out your product.

Highlights offer:

Labeling plays a significant role in the promotion game. A well-designed label can easily attract the customers to buy the product. For example, for your new toothpaste, if the label carries all information about the product and also the extra product, say a free brush, it will simply let the users know that it is a profitable deal, right?

Protect the customers:

Yes, it can seriously help consumers from getting into any health problems. While it alerts them about the adulteration factor, it keeps them aware of what to buy and what not. There is a list of factors stated on the label, including ingredients, the date of manufacture and expiry. For example, if a customer is allergic to wheat, he can easily check from the label itself, whether the food item is right for him or not.

So, in a nutshell, labeling turns out to be an important part of your marketing process. But would any kind of label work for your product? Certainly, not! You need to be very careful and particular when choosing a label for your brand.

How to choose the right label for your product?

Explore some of the important factors to consider for a right labeling choice;

Customers are important

Initially, you need to check for who your customers are and how this product will benefit them. The more you are able to find out about your audience, better label design you will be able to select.

Simplicity is the best policy

No one like those labels filled with complex designs and colors. Try to choose a simple labeling to avoid any kind of confusion. You can follow the simple rule; more you are able to tell with fewer words, better your labeling will appear.

Branding can be integrated

The next thing you need to focus on when labeling your product is the branding. Actually, placing your brand in your labeling makes it easier for people to find your product. So, make sure that you put your branding in a way that it helps create a distinctive recognition for your product.

Lastly; incorporating the listed factors in your label, and blending it well with your marketing plan can guarantee a product that stands above the competition. Hence, choose a partner who can assure you custom printed packaging services and best labels.