Cleaning with a clear conscience: The sustainable e-commerce packaging from DS Smith gives the environmentally friendly cleaning tabs from Blaue Helden a glamorous appearance in online retail, with 100 % corrugated cardboard and no plastic filling material at all.
The Hessian (Germany) start-up Blaue Helden produces power tabs for mixing dishwashing and cleaning products yourself. With its refill tablets, the company wants to permanently reduce single-use plastic and CO2 emissions. The trend product and brand message are transported to the online customer in e-commerce packaging that is 100 % in line with Blaue Helden’s ecological standards. The material-optimised solution made of 100 % corrugated cardboard comes from the think tank of DS Smith. Thanks to the precisely fitting inserts, no filling materials are required for shipping the 3 and 4 hero starter sets. In combination with the strong-identity exterior and interior print, the shipping packaging thus ensures one thing above all in addition to the protection of the product and nature: an unboxing that online shoppers will remember as a positive brand experience.
Plastic waste is one of the biggest environmental burdens on our planet. The start-up Blue Heroes, founded in 2019 in Germany, wants to counteract this. Their mission: with a power tab, a reusable spray bottle and water from the tap, anyone can easily mix their own bathroom cleaner, dishwashing liquid, all-purpose cleaner or glass cleaner. According to the start-up, this not only permanently reduces plastic consumption in the household. Due to the low weight and packaging volume of the tabs, more than 90 percent of the CO2 emissions caused by transporting conventional cleaning agents in disposable plastic bottles can be saved at the same time.
The environmentally friendly power tabs and reusable spray bottles are sold through selected drugstores and supermarkets as well as the company’s own online shop. Blaue Helden offers an easy entry into a clean future with its two starter sets available online. For the development and production of the corresponding e-commerce packaging, the young company relies on the long-standing expertise of DS Smith. Just like the start-up, the globally active display and packaging company consistently focuses on sustainability in its business activities – with circular ready solutions and the 100 % recyclable material corrugated board.
Consumers demand sustainable packaging
Today’s consumers not only attach importance to sustainable products. From the shopper’s point of view, their packaging must also be environmentally compatible and resource-saving, as a study conducted by DS Smith and the market research company Ipsos Mori in 12 European countries in autumn 2020 shows. One in five (22 per cent) of the consumers surveyed said that they no longer order from some online retailers because their shipping packaging leaves something undesired in terms of sustainability. Conversely, this means that anyone who sends their products in sustainable e-commerce packaging, like the start-up Blaue Helden, is an additional winner.
For the Helden packaging solution, DS Smith used only as much fibre as necessary in accordance with its own Circular Design Principles. Whether it’s a 3-piece or 4-piece starter kit, the custom-fit corrugated cardboard inlay holds the products securely in place in the packaging without the need for additional filling materials such as plastic bubble wrap. Inlay and box can be unfolded in no time. But the DS Smith solution scores points with stress-free handling not only in the start-up’s logistics centre, but also with its customers. Self-adhesive tape and tear tape enable the packaging to be closed just as quickly as it can be opened later.
The packaging leaves a lasting impression, especially with its strong identity design. The corrugated board perfectly conveys the sustainable claim of the cleaning products start-up. Its brand message is prominently printed on the outside and inside of the packaging in high-quality flexographic printing. The box also has flaps on the inside into which a flyer can be inserted. The e-commerce shipping box gives the products a glamorous appearance when the packaging is opened. It emotionalises, serves as a confirmation of purchase and motivates repeat purchases: after all, who wouldn’t want to become a lasting hero of a cleaner environment?
