Walmart is bringing greater awareness to its shoppers by placing simple ideas on its website that would help people become more environmental friendly.

Through this web campaign, Walmart is educating its customers that simple changes in life could greatly help in reducing waste, and in turn help to save the environment. In addition, the campaign also benefit Walmart's sales, as the ideas are linked to purchasing environmental friendly products or solutions.

(Source: http://www.walmart.com/)

Dell says it's implementing a new computer packaging plan that will result in estimated savings of more than $8 million and the elimination of approximately 20 milion pounds of packaging material over the next four years.

The company plans to reduce desktop and laptop packaging materials by approximately 10 percent worldwide, increase sustainable content in cushioning and corrugate packaging by 40 percent and ensure that 75 percent of packaging components are curbside recyclable by 2012.

(Source: The Executive Daily Green Briefing; 16 December 2008)

Speedo announced its goggles will be packaged in sustainable cardboard, Packagingnews.co.uk reports.

The new packaging is 100 percent recyclable and uses Forestry Stewardship Council-certified cardboard box that can be hung vertically and horizontally. The pouches are partially made from cut-off fabric from Speedo swimsuits; replacing the traditional PVC pouch. Since switching to the sustainable packaging the company says it has cut 118 tons of PVC and 316 tons of plastic.

The new packaging and on-pack graphics were created by R Design and will be launched later this month in U.K., with international roll-out in early 2009.

Media companies have published numerous articles on global warming and greenhouse emissions in recent years. Now, a couple of large publisher are starting to think about their own impact on the environment.

"We've recognised that these are issues that are important to our readers and, increasingly, important to our advertisers," said David J. Refkin, the director of sustainable developement for the Time Inc. division of Time Warner and a member of the board of the Heinz Center. "We're starting to see a movement where becoming carbon neutral is something that companies are considering."

(Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/25/business/media/25adco.html)

On 15 May 2007, Ellen Degeneres green show introduced the audience to many concepts on the enviroment and alternative energy including giving away a free Toyota Prius Hybrid and powering some of the things for the that day's show with pedal power bicycle generators.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

In 2009, Earth Hour was taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people casting their vote for Earth. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from.

Advertisements were found almost everywhere. Different supporting mediums such as desktop wallpapers, posters, web banners, online badges and etc were available for download on Earth Hour's official website.

(Source: www.earthhour.org, http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/earth_hour_2009.html)

Recently in the trend, practical and innovative reusable shopping bags have been designed to help people consume less, preserve natural resources and save money too.

In order to reduce wastage of plastic bags, 18 April 2007 saw Singapore launching a monthly Bring Your Own Bag Day (BYOBD) every first Wednesday of the month. Shoppers are encouraged to bring their own bags.

Participating supermarkets include Carrefour, Cold Storage, Giant, NTUC FairPrice, Prime Supermarket, Sheng Siong, Shop N Save.

The nation was also reminded to:
1. Decline bags for small purchases
2. Ask the cashiers to pack more purchases into the bags
3. Ask the cashiers to avoid double-bagging
4. Buy a reusable bag if you still don’t own one

Korean electronics maker LG was recently rewarded for excellence in its packaging waste management at Packaging Magazine's Packaging Evolution Awards. LG was recognized for taking responsibility beyond disposing of packaging effectively. LG demonstrated its commitment to conserving resources and facilitating the re-use and recycling of used packaging materials. Some of the areas LG was specifically recognized for were; design - developing cardboard pallets to replace traditional wood pallets.

(Source: www.sustainableisgood.com)

As a rule, quality packaging design follows a 4D Methodology of Ergonomics, Cost, Sustainability and Logistics. When embarking on a redesign, manufacturers should first assess the sustainability of their current packaging to use as a baseline. Industry standard tools further measure and analyze the amount of impact the packaging has on the environment.

More compact packaging will result in a reduced material cost. By simplifying the packaging process with fewer pieces, you can extend the savings with less labor. The amount of warehouse space required is reduced, further impacting logistics costs.

In 2008 ModusLinkk a global packaging company, converted more than 100 million clamshells to trapped blisters and they forsee the trend continuing.

(Source: Sustainable Packaging Initiatives Are a Viable Cost-Reduction Solution in a Downward Economy by Ryan Humphrey, www.industryweek.com)

Plastic recycling is the process of recovering scrap or waste plastics and reprocessing the material into useful products, sometimes completely different in form from their original state. For instance, this could mean melting down soft drink bottles then casting them as plastic chairs and tables. Icons like these are important as it allows users to indentify the good, bad and OK plastics and where they can be found.

(Source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/which-plastics-are-safe.html)