The Eco-Friendly Packaging Checklist: 10 Steps in the Right Order

Do the steps in order

Most brands start eco-friendly packaging at the wrong end — shopping for “compostable” materials before right-sizing. The result is a premium material used wastefully, with a claim that may not even be true in the customer’s region. This checklist is ordered by impact: the top steps cut more waste than the bottom ones add virtue.

The ten steps

• 1. Right-size — less board and less air shipped is the biggest single win
• 2. Remove plastic void fill — a fitted insert replaces it
• 3. Choose recyclable board as the default — kraft and corrugated are curbside-accepted nearly everywhere
• 4. Cut laminates and coatings where protection allows — they block recycling
• 5. Use soy or water-based inks
• 6. Add recycled content — and print the real percentage
• 7. Plastic-free windows or no windows
• 8. Verify compostability claims against real facilities — commercial vs home
• 9. Right-size the freight — fuller pallets, fewer shipments
• 10. Print only claims you can substantiate — every one of them

The claims audit

“Recyclable”, “compostable” and “made from recycled content” are different legal claims, and regulators treat vague green language as greenwashing. We advise which claims your material and region actually support, and lay out recycling symbols accurately — including where commercial composting is the only real path. If a claim will not survive scrutiny, we will tell you not to print it.