When I was browsing Print magazine online, I came across a webcast focusing on the company Pangea Organics. I was instantly intrigued, having an interest in making the office more environmentally friendly. I thought this was a great opportunity to gather ideas on how to create and design more sustainably. Since Pangea is one of the leading companies in sustainable packaging, I felt lucky to listen in on Joshua Onysko (CEO & Founder) and Josh Ivy’s (designer) webcast called Pretty Green – How to Design Truly sustainable, Truly Beautiful Packaging.

Pangea is always sourcing new materials in everything they create, reducing waste whenever possible. Currently all of the boxes for their gift sets and soaps are completely biodegradable, made from molded fiber. Molded fiber is simply newspaper and hot water mixed together, the same material egg cartons are made from. This material produces no waste; leftover pieces from the die cuts get thrown back into the mixture. Pangea strongly believes that once something is used for its purpose it should have another purpose to fulfill so the biodegradable boxes have Colorado Spruce Seeds embedded within them — you can actually plant the entire box. They avoid glue, using origami folds for boxes and print with soy based inks. Whenever possible they use glass — Josh notes that plastic is the worst material because its nonbiodegrable, referring to the North Pacific Gyre. Watching this really makes you think twice before buying plastic.

They eventually brought up costs, which I must admit was running through my mind during the entire webcast. They admitted that the biggest obstacle was affordability, especially when working with smaller companies that do smaller print runs. Josh Ivy recommended finding a manufacturer who has a solid understanding of new materials, especially environmentally friendly ones.

Even though cost is a factor for designing sustainably, I think Pangeas message is very inspiring. It reminds people that we need to start thinking about the way we create and design. Each design you work on should be questioned, “how can I make this more sustainable?” Maybe you start by using FSC papers whenever possible. Monadnock Paper Mills has a great field guide to eco-friendly, efficient and effective print that you can download from their site. The paper is all FSC approved and available locally.

A few tips on how to design more sustainably: 

• Design without bleeds. Designs with bleeds are printed on sheets and then trimmed to finished size.
• Use paper that is already available at the print house. If you have to order a paper in it causes a larger carbon footprint.
• Try using uncoated paper. Coated paper is harder to recycle because of the coating.
• Buy paper from a source using sustainable energy in production.
• Think about how your design can serve more than one purpose? Can your poster series be double sided?
• If you must use glue consider water-based glues

Crystal Oicle loves every aspect of design. While she has worked more than five years as a graphic designer, her passion for illustration, screen printing, art and creativity shows through in her award-winning work. She has been recognized in Applied Arts magazine, and had a logo featured in the international design book Los Logos 4. Crystal won Best of Show Gold for Moosehead International cans, and has received multiple Ice Awards. Some of her clients have included Moosehead, Not Worth It, Destination Halifax, NSLC, Canada Post, Communications Nova Scotia, The Vault Jewelry, Saint Mary's University, Filion Wakely and NSHP.