Step 5: Newton Running’s New Green Shoebox
Newton Running, a running shoe company based in Boulder, Colorado, packages their product in a carton made of 100% post-consumer recycled material as their company’s green steps.
Working with TDA Advertising and Design, Newton Running designed the molded carton to fit the shape of the shoes. That means they eliminated the need for tissue paper filler. In addition, rather than add tissue paper to the inside of each shoe, the company stuffs one shoe with a pair of socks and the other with a reusable shoe bag.
According to its website, this alternative shoe packaging is just one of many ways that Newton Running incorporates sustainability into its business plan. The company also:
- Uses recycled products in the production of running shoes (recycled yarn shoe laces, recycled yarn in the webbing strip, a minimum of 10% recycled yarn in the outer sole, ECOPET recycled products)
- Has eliminated the hangtags that other manufacturers use to highlight special materials, features,etc.
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The shoebox featured in this story was designed by our advertising agency and submitted to several design competitions. We liked this design but after a lot of research we discovered it is not very sustainable for us to produce or ship the molded pulp shoe boxes.
We learned that not only were the pulp boxes significantly more expensive to make, but they are produced far from the footwear factory and they would dramatically increase overall freight costs because they do not stack in containers, warehouses or retail stores efficiently (as predicted in several comments).
Newton has instead developed a new rectangular shoebox that is produced from 100% post consumer waste and uses soy-based inks. The new packaging is easy to store and ship, it’s lightweight and it’s easy to break down and recycle. Read more about our environmental assessment and packaging audit here: http://www.TheRunningFront.com
Thanks for the update, Sir Isaac. I posted this new information at Step 11: http://1000greensteps.org/2009/01/16/step-11-an-even-greener-shoebox/