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Research Process Diary - Topic 6

History of Sustainable packaging / Part 1

Sustainable Packaging refers to the way in which packaging is ‘sustaining’ or helping the environment by producing less waste which has less impact on the environment. Sustainable Packaging has been around for centuries, the first use of this type of packaging goes back to ancient times when they would use vines, large leaves, plants or wood hollowed out in the middle. They would also use animal skin; as around that time, they were big on using all parts of an animal. After the Ancient times when villages began to form, the people of the village would use a variety of different materials to transport and wrap goods. One of these materials would be moulded fat which they would get from plants. The materials would differ for each village as the same materials weren't available. 

Cradle to Cradle design is a model in which helps to enrich the environment and its eco systems by creating a safe and organic way to provide nutrients to the environment. Recyclability and sustainability are not the same things - most recyclables such as plastic bottles are made from petroleum and can be recycled fairly easy however takes a while to them form into something else such as it can be used to make garbage bins or kerbs on the road. Sustainable products are better for the environment as the packaging is less harmful to the environment. For example, a plastic bottle you find in the shops could be made from plant base cane sugar rather than petroleum. Another use for sugar cane is it can be crushed then sterilized and then molded and used as disposable plates or cutlery and bowls. Sugar cane is much easier to grow than if you used trees to make the paper plates. In the past sugar cane was known to create pollution but now it is seen as healthy for the environment as it can be broken down fairly quickly.

Bamboo is another type of sustainable packaging, that can be melted down and molded into different types of packaging. This type of packaging can be used for electronic devices to protect them, oven trays as well as plates. Bamboo also grows faster than trees. Bamboo has also been used as construction for boats and scaffolding as it can be easily stretched. When broken down, bamboo can help protect the soil and helps plants to grow. Polylactic acid is another plant based material. This type of material is best used as a thermal to keep drinks or food hot or to keep it cold. This type of packaging can be made from corn starch, tapioca roots or sugar cane. It can also be used to make cutlery. 

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Research Process Diary - Topic 5

Packaging is Rubbish  documentary/ part 1

Mark Constantine started making packaging for the body shop then later, created bath and beauty products for LUSH. He was worried after he realized the soaps would be sold to the public; that they wouldn't buy them as it was unpackaged. By creating soaps that aren’t packaged, encourages consumers to ditch the bottles and packaging which means less waste. 

The womens institute shares Marks lack of interest in excess packaging. The europlean law states that you can complain about excessive packaging. To test this theory out, Mark and a packaging design expert asked the women to bring along examples of excessive packaging, after choosing a range of items, the steps to complain about packaging are as follows:

1. Ring consumer direct 

2. They will pass the complaint onto the each of the places where the packaging comes from via the trading standards offices

Mark believes it is a great idea to complain about packaging as it costs the consumers money as that money can be used for more important things like feeding a family. The packaging costs more than the product. By selling Lush products unpackaged they don’t cost as much as a more expensive brand with packaging. 

To see how much a person takes home on their weekly shop, mark accompanied a lady on her weekly shop and after taking off the packaging in all 8 bags, they realized by taking the packaging off, the amount of food can be easily carried in 4 bags. This maximised the amount of rubbish that has to be scrunched up, squashed or recycled at the tip. Most of the packaging today, can’t be recycled so plastics can take up to 400 years to degrade. Children's toy packaging can be hard as they wires and zip ties that need to be cut open to take out what is in the packaging. The packaging used in toys are classical example of people saying ‘bigger is better’. People are reluctant to discard all packaging from their items as it could get wrecked.

Individual portions used in cafes for sugars, milk and coffee can come in boxes can be wasteful. He experiments with adding the individual sachets that can produce waste into empty bottles and containers that can be recycled. Supermarkets are another example of excessive packaging. There are products,  3 capsicums for example that are packaged. rather than 1 capsicum stand alone. By packaging 3 together, it can be more convenient for the consumer and more cheaper than buying three stand alone capsicums.

By creating sustainable packaging, the consumers need to be ready to look after the environment. In the past, Unilever created detergents in bigger packaging as after conducting research, they discovered that consumers weren’t ready to look after the environment, now that is the opposite, Unilever has created detergent in smaller, recyclable bottles that reduce the amount of waste. By creating smaller bottles, trucks going to supermarkets to deliver them, also use less fuel as more of the bottles can fit in the back of a truck compared to bigger bottles. To help reduce the amount of packaging, you can swap a supermarket and shop at a food market which has considerable amount of less packaging. Markets can also be cheaper and more can be recycled. 

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Research Process Diary - Topic 4

History of Plastic Packaging / Topic 4

Plastic wasn/t an ‘invention’ as such, it has evolved from natural materials. In the early ages, plastic was made from protiens found in egg or blood, in 1600 BC, natural rubber was used by the mesoamericans (the cultural area of ranging from people living in Mexico to Belize) and in the Middle Ages, cattle horns were used for lantern windows. The use of plastic evolved when Charles Goodyear discovered that by using natural rubber, he could create a more durable material, this process is called Vulcanization. Hard rubber discovered in 1851, was first material that evolved into a distinct chemical modification of a natural material. 

An inventor; Alexander Parkes, observed the residue left over by the evaporation of photographic cholodium was a hard, waterproof substance. In 1856, he patented the first man-made plastic called ‘Parkesine’. This material was made from the walls in plant cells mixed with nitric acid, this dissolved in alcohol and used as an elastic that could be molded when heated or ivory. Numerous attempts were made to manufacturing the plastic but it failed. Another inventor, Hyatt experimenting with cellous nitrate and wanted to come up with a plastic to use on billiard balls other than ivory. cloth, dusted ivory and shellac was used to make colored plastic for coding billiard balls; other wise known as colored collidine. 

John Edwin Brendedburger invented cellophane in the 1900s, this was used a flexible packaging for food and other things around the home.  In 1930, the Scotch (Cellulose) tape was invented by Richard Drew, an engineer. This was used to seal packagings. this invention came about in the 1920s when the two tone look for cars was popular but timely for mechanics to paint cars in two different colors as the paint would get wrecked on the already painted half, to achieve these mechanics would use tape or newspaper but this would leave residue on the paint. Richard created a new tape with sandpaper as a base; with a seal that didn’t leave any sticky residue.  In 1933, Ralph Wiley, created Saran wrap; a polyvinyl Lyle chloride, first used to protect military equipment. Tupperware were plastic containers used to store and freeze meals for another night. In 1946, Earl Syles Tupper; sold these as a means to make money. 1945, Dr Jules Mortner created a plastic spray bottle, this was used to hold deodorant. Garbage were created by Harry Wasylyk with Larry Hansen, these were first used in a Canadian hospital. Zip Loc bags was created in 1954 by Robert W Wenobe, he patented zipper storage bags, used as pencil bags to store pencils, these were re introduced as food storage in 1958 due to the fact that they could be used for many more things. In 1960,  two engineers sealed two shower curtains which had air bubbles, they originally marketed it as wall paper then as an insulation for greenhouses, they then realized it could be used to wrap breakable items in. Tv dinners were packaged previously in aluminum trays with a thin sheet of cellulose on top, due to the invention of  plastic packaging, these were switched to plastic instead of aluminum, these then able to be microwaved and would save time doing so. Bioplastics were invented by engineers to minimise the amount of waste from plastic. PLA keeps the food even fresher than cellulose. This type of plastic is able to be recycled.

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Research Process Diary - Topic 3

History of the Milk Carton / Topic 3

During the 1860s, every morning, a milkman would come to peoples homes and fill up a milk jug with fresh milk, in 1884, milk glass bottles were invented by the New York Dairy Company. Before the milkman, milk in milk cans was delivered in trucks, due to the lack of insulation, milk bottles were introduced along with a milk man who drove a truck with fridges in the back to keep milk cold; this truck was known as a milk float, this seemed a much safer way to transport. In the US, there are some people who still get their milk delivered by a milk man. John Van Worner invented the milk carton as he was frustrated that his glass bottle kept breaking. 

John was able to design many shapes of packagings such as cubes, triangles, cones and milk bottle silhouettes. Due to the very low prices of milk bottles, 10 years went by before the price of milk bottles got expensive enough for consumers to make the switch to the cheaper option of the milk carton. The gable top spout was formed within this time and John Von Worner was selling 20 million a day. 

A study done by The Philadelphia Bureau of Health said that cartons had a “quarter less of the bacteria then glass bottles” which means, the milk stayed fresher for longer in a milk carton. In the 1940s and 50s, the milk carton with the flat top was mainly used due to it being more sanitary. Also during this time, the gable top spout was used, this enabled for easier pouring as well as it was easy to print striaght onto the packaging. Milk cartons in the 1980s were also used to print notices such as the campaign ‘missing child’. 

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Research Process Diary - Topic 2

History of the Cereal Box / Topic 2

In 1865, Flaked cereal was invented in Battle Creek, Michigan. A health spa was set up by a religious group there - The Seventh Day Adventists so locals could come and rejuvenate. John Harvey Kellogg of the group, trained as a medical doctor and in 1875 created the cornflakes brand by experimenting with wheat and granola to help supplement the vegetarian diet they are required to eat when entering the retreat. John and his brother left wheat overnight by accident and saw it was stale so they then rolled it through a machine and toasted the wheat. In 1906, Johns brother, William, bought the rights to cornflakes and set up the first Kelloggs company. More appetizing graphics were chosen for the box - a protein mascot rather than the dreary photo of the sanitarium where the cornflakes were made. Williams signature became the logo for the Cornflakes brand which is still on every box today. 

George H Hoyt, created a cereal in which he placed the cereal straight into the box as he found it more sanitary than previous ways. This method of packaging was used by the Kelloggs brand and later revised by Williams son, John by placing the cereal in a bag then placing the bag in the box; this method is still used in all cereal boxes today. The rooster on the box was on all brands of the cereal came about when a family friend of Kelloggs said the Welsh word for cockrial is ‘Ceiliog’ and in the English language it translates to ‘Kelloggs’.

Another important inventor of cereal was Charles W.post. who was a patient at the same sanitarium where Kelloggs was made. He experimented with an all grain coffee substitute. In 1898, Grape Nut was formed - a cereal in which had not nuts or grapes. After his death, the company was sold and reacquired by a variety of different companies. In 1854, another cereal company was created by a German Immigrant Quaker Oats was used for horses then eventually made for humans. In 1916, a round ‘Quaker Oats’ cardboard was used to store the oats in. This helped to stand out from other products. The man on the container is dressed as a Quaker guard and the dress symbolises honesty, integrity, purity and strength. Wheaties is another big cereal company. This company was good at making cereal for children and one of the brands was the Frankenstein monsters products. These included Count Chocola, Franken Berry and later; Boo-Berry.

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Research Process Diary - Topic 1

History of Packaging / Topic 1

Packaging refers to the way in which products such as foods and items are protected, either by distributing products, selling in a supermarket, or transporting products from A to B. Some examples of packaging include jars, containers, homewares, milk cartons, and tins. 

The tin can is based on glass containers invented by Nikola Appert in 1809, in 1810 Phillipe De Girand; a Frenchman is said to have invented the tin can. Phillipe passed his idea onto an agent, Peter Durand to patent it within the same year. The patent was sold off to two Englishmen in 1812. Brian Donkin and John Paul refined the can and opened the very first canning factory in London. The Royal Navy was one of the first to receive goods in these tin cans. In 1845 a crew member at an art show suffered lead poisoning due to the lead that the tin lid was made out of leaking into the food. Tin cans were made out of tin plated steel, (Aluminium cans, for example, is not really made out of the tin, but we still call it a tin can). Aluminum was established in 1957 and is less costly than tin plated steel. The labels for tin cans are usually wrapped around the surface of the can, these labels have details of the contents and nutrition information.

 In 1906, an Englishman; Thomas Peter Bethell invented an egg box which was later adapted. This egg box consisted of strips interlocking cardboard one another which allowed for easier transportation. Prior to 1906, eggs were carried in egg baskets. In 1911, a modern version of the egg box was created by Canadian newspaper editor, Joseph Boyle. He adapted Thomas’ egg box design by placing dimples in the carton, this allowed for easier transportation and decrease the risk of stressors. There is a range of materials that an egg carton can be made out of, in the past, most egg cartons were made out of paper mache, today they can be made out of foam, plastic, polystyrene or recycled paper. 

The mason jar was invented in 1858 by Jonathan Landis Mason. The jars are glass jars and are used to hold preserves such as jams. The lid has a rubber seal which stops mold and other elements leaking into the food. Most lids these days are made from metal and are slightly dented on the side of the lid, if you hear a pop when you open the jar, you know it has been properly sealed. The cardboard box was invented in England in 1817 by Robert Gair, he realised that by manufacturing flat pieces of commercial paperboard (which is what was used then) that it can make cardboard boxes, in 1870 he made prefabricated boxes by cutting up single sheets of corrugated board which came in around that time and was a bit stronger than paperboard. Kellogs was the first company to use cardboard boxes. Patented cardboard boxes were made in 1856. in 1874 the box was made better by introducing liner sheets either side and in 1895 the first cardboard box was made in a factory in the USA. Tubes were made in the 1800s, in 1841, a painter invented a metal tube because he wanted to paint outside but couldn’t because paints weren’t easily portable then. The impressionist movement was led by the invention of the tube. There are plastic tubes for makeup, laminate tubes which generally hold toothpaaste. Medicine bottles were different shapes. mostly used was glass in the 19th century. The colour of the medicine bottle such as orange or brown helped to stop ultraviolet light getting into the liquid.