As the pressure mounts for businesses to take corporate responsibility and up their efforts in protecting the environment and preventing global warming. Even for small businesses there is pressure mounting from customers to do their best for the planet. For businesses that send physical products to their customers, there is an obvious area where they can make changes that could result in some big positive impacts for the environment, product packaging. But what are the benefits of switching from plastic packaging to more eco friendly paper alternatives such as paper mailing bags?

Environmental benefits

Biodegradable

Paper has a much quicker biodegradation rate than many other materials, especially plastics. This means that once your customers have finished using your eco packaging or paper mailing bags then they can simply add it to their compost heap.

Recyclable

Paper is well known as one of the most easily recyclable materials on the planet, meaning that if your customers do not have a compost heap inorder for it to be biodegraded then they can easily recycle it at home.

Natural materials

Paper is made mainly of natural materials, which means that it is beneficial for the decomposition process as there is no risk of harmful chemicals being released into the environment.

Brand Association

By choosing to use paper mailing bags and other forms of paper packaging your business is sending a very strong message to their customers that it is environmentally conscious and actively taking steps to reduce its plastic waste. This alone can elevate your brand above your competitors and help to create positive associations of your brand. Having attractive paper packaging also increases the chance of your customers posting to socials which again could catch the eye of other environmentally conscious customers and point them in your direction.

Customisable

Another key benefit of using paper as a base product for your packaging is that it can very easily be customised to match your brand. Paper is one of the easiest materials to print on, meaning that getting a paper mailing bag printed with your logo and brand mission is a very quick and easy job to organise. Although having paper packaging is super easy to organise, its impact on your brand should not be overlooked, it is well known that having branded packaging signifies quality to the customers and enhances the buyer journey.

Things to consider

There are a number of benefits when it comes to choosing eco paper packaging over other materials. There are a few things to bear in mind when purchasing:

1. Less protective than other types of packaging
2. Can still end up in landfill
3. Less resilient than other types of packaging

Paper packaging is a great way to start your business in a fight against plastic. There are a number of benefits to switching from other packaging materials, you should take into consideration a couple of the points raised to ensure you have everything covered.