The SeaHive Guide to Plastic-Free Packaging: Getting Your Factory to Package Plastic-Free

You’ve made your product. You’ve designed plastic-free packaging. Now it’s time to combine the two at your factory.

We needed to pack and ship 10,000 duffel bags from our factory in Vietnam. We were shipping some to our 3PL and some directly to consumers. Most high-end bags are shipped inside a plastic bag to protect it. A bag...in a bag. They might be further “protected” by air pockets, packing peanuts, or other filler. This strategy didn’t make a lot of sense to us so the first step was to design a box that would fit the Pakt One bag precisely without extra space. The only other thing inside was a brief educational insert calling out our plastic-free packaging. We sealed the deal with paper tape.

Tons of Pakt One bags in their SeaHive boxes.

We knew how we wanted the final packaging to look so we went to our factory in Vietnam to hand off the directions in person. It was more about what not to include than what to put in the box. Factories are used to the status quo--plastic, plastic, plastic. We spoke with our factory’s manager, Claire, who translated all directions to workers.

“We need to make sure there is no plastic used in our packaging.”

“No poly bag?” asked Claire.

“No poly bag, no plastic tape, or any other plastic.”

“Ah, no plastic. Okay!” Claire then turned to her team to repeat the instructions in Cantonese and Vietnamese to make sure everyone in the room understood.

Left and Middle: SeaHive and Pakt founder Malcolm Fontier in Vietnam with Claire showing the packing steps on the packaging prototype.

Right: Claire making what became her signature “X” move

She made a huge “X” with her arms to signal that no plastic was to be involved at any stage in packing or shipping. Even though going plastic-free isn’t the norm right now, our factory was more than happy to comply and yours likely will be too if you spend the time to communicate how important it is to your brand.

The SeaHive Guide to Plastic-Free Packaging: Designing the Packaging

The first product Pakt launched was the Pakt One travel bag. After they sold 10,000 units in an Indiegogo campaign we needed to figure out how to package and ship those bags across the globe. We wanted the packaging experience to be as beautiful, simple, and well-made as the bag itself.

The box is a simple tuck-top design that fits the Pakt One’s dimensions perfectly.

We designed our packaging in-house to fit the Pakt One perfectly. Our founder and a few of our employees are industrial designers so we could do this ourselves. You have two main options for sourcing the packaging design and manufacturing. You can do it in-house if you have the resources: industrial and/or graphic designers. If you don’t, you can look to a packaging supplier who will design the packaging and then make it for you. If you are unsure of who to go with we can connect you with a company we highly recommend--just send us an email and we’ll make the intro. If you’re going the in-house route, once the packaging is designed you’ll send it off to a manufacturer to get samples made.

Brown craft paper printed with a single color wrapped around the bag, sealed with a paper logo sticker.

Your logo and other key info about the item will likely be displayed on the outside of the packaging. You’ve gone the extra mile by eliminating plastic and you’ll want to tell prospective customers--it’s a great way to showcase your brand’s ethos. SeaHive and Pakt wanted to shout it from the rooftops that our goods would be sent without any plastic. We created the SeaHive Seal to be displayed on the exterior of the packaging to communicate to customers that the items inside are packaged and shipped 100% plastic-free.

The seal is a way to help make a conscious consumer choice to avoid plastic packaging. Seals for organic, non-GMO, Fair Trade, and cruelty-free products are established indicators to help us align our values to our purchases. We hope the SeaHive Seal will be taken up by other brands who choose to protect the environment and pass on plastic. We believe it will convince potential customers to confidently buy products that don’t contribute to a global problem.

The SeaHive Seal, and all SeaHive branding, was designed by our friends No Thanks and is featured on our packaging.

Once you approve packaging samples they can be mass produced and shipped to your factory. Your work doesn’t end there though. You need to insure your product is packaged correctly, without any plastic. In the next post we’ll look into how to we got our factory to go plastic-free. It can be a challenge but nothing that can’t be tackled with good communication and some great attitudes.

The SeaHive Guide to Plastic-Free Packaging: Why We Wanted to Avoid Plastic in Our Packaging

More than 50% of all plastic thrown out is packaging. Single-use plastic has become a scourge on our planet in the past 60 years. It’s cheap to make and widely considered to be hygienic and time-saving. Unfortunately, one of the qualities that makes it valuable also makes it extremely detrimental to the health of the planet: its durability. Plastic is estimated to last anywhere from 450 years to forever. Nearly every piece of plastic ever made is still with us and every piece we manufacture adds to the problem. Creating it involves fossil fuels, which aren’t so great for our atmosphere. When plastics slowly photodegrade in landfills, rivers, and the ocean they leach chemicals into the soil and water, harming the health of our entire ecosystem.

A short educational insert we included with the Pakt One.

SeaHive and Pakt founder, Malcolm Fontier, didn’t want to contribute to the creation of more plastic packaging, 32% of which ends up in the ocean. “Even as an environmentally-minded product company, it's easy to focus on your product and overlook the packaging. We wanted to show that going plastic-free and removing much of the environmental risk from your packaging isn't difficult and something any company can do.” says Fontier.

There is no such thing as a sustainably produced product but there’s a spectrum of environmental responsibility. Companies need to decide where on that spectrum they want to exist. The goal of Pakt is to have the lowest possible impact on the planet while making products that last a lifetime and don’t end up in a landfill--a goal your own company may share. SeaHive was able to help reduce Pakt’s impact from a packaging and shipping standpoint and we hope these guides pique your interest to reduce or eliminate plastic from your company’s packaging. Make sure you subscribe to our newsletter because next in our series we’ll dive into packaging design.

We’re Launching The SeaHive Guide to Plastic-Free Packaging

Here at SeaHive, we’ve learned a lot by creating plastic-free packaging for our sister company Pakt. We decided we wanted to share what worked for us with anyone who was interested. In the following series, The SeaHive Guide to Plastic-Free Packaging, we are going to explain the reasoning we went off the beaten path to use 100% plastic-free packaging, exactly how we did it at each step, and further ways you can reduce your environmental footprint as a company.

The frontside of a card we made explaining the SeaHive plastic-free packaging for Pakt bags.

The goal of these guides is to help other businesses realize they can do this too – and help make the switch painless. Switching to plastic-free packaging doesn’t have to cost a lot and it isn’t as complicated as you might think, but every item packaged and shipped without plastic makes a difference. We encourage you to get in touch with questions and comments as you read these. We aren’t environmental scientists or packaging engineers--we’re just a small team of people who wants to keep plastic out of the ocean and saw an opportunity to start with our own products. This is what worked for us and we hope it inspires you to consider eliminating plastic packaging from your product line.

Meet Our Ocean Ambassadors

Hello there,

We’re excited to announce our new ambassador program! We want to introduce you to a few of the people we are proud to say are helping spread the word about SeaHive and keeping our waterways clean.

This is Ben Lecomte. He is swimming from Japan to San Francisco to raise awareness about plastic pollution. Yes, you read that correctly. He’ll swim eight hours a day for six months for a total of 5,500 miles. Discovery Channel is making a documentary chronicling his epic journey. 

Meet Stephanie Roble, a sailor training for the Tokyo Summer Olympics for team USA. She spends more than 200 days a year sailing and says, “not a day goes by on the water when I don't see debris, specifically plastic. Those above and below the surface of the ocean are affected negatively by plastic pollution. However I really believe we can make changes to our habits to stop and solve the problem!” We agree completely.

Weldon Wade is a diver in Bermuda fighting plastic pollution from multiple angles. He founded Guardians of the Reef, which works to remove plastic pollution from the land and sea floor while getting more people exploring and protecting the ocean. If you are ever in Bermuda or planning to visit, be sure to contact him and plan a dive!

Follow along on our Instagram as we highlight their work to keep oceans clean and feature some of the insanely cool things they’re up to.

Stay salty,
SeaHive

Our First Project Has Shipped!

Hello everyone,

Our first project shipped, we launched a new website, and we’re open for business!

It’s been a while since we got in touch and that’s because we’ve been busy bees shipping out our first project: 10,000 Pakt One travel bags packaged 100% plastic-free. We designed and sourced beautiful and functional packaging that included an educational message to spread awareness about the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans. Starting in June, the Pakt Ones were sent to 41 different countries around the globe, all without plastic. 

People were thrilled to get their bags in environmentally-friendly materials, as opposed to single-use plastic, which doesn’t break down for hundreds or thousands of years. Consumers even shared photos across social media, proclaiming their SeaHive plastic-free love.

As for what’s next, our work will focus on companies with water-centric audiences who most appreciate an effort to protect the ocean they use and enjoy. We’ll keep you updated about what’s in the pipeline and the amazing companies choosing to make an impact with their packaging and messaging.

Also, we just launched a fresh new website! Check out seahive.com and let us know what you think.

Say no to single-use (it is #PlasticFreeJuly afterall),
SeaHive

Welcome to SeaHive!

Hello everyone,

Thanks for joining us! This is our very first SeaHive blog post. It’s been quiet from us but we’ve been anything but idle. We’ve been hard at work creating our first plastic-free packaging collaboration with Pakt. Many of you probably found us via Pakt and already know about the Pakt One travel bag that they launched on Indiegogo. SeaHive is involved with the packaging for that bag, helping design and source 100% plastic-free packaging that performs as well or better than the environmentally harmful plastic-based standard packaging.

In the above photo, Claire, the factory manager at Pakt’s Vietnamese manufacturing partner shows the “X” sign she came up with to tell her non-english speaking staff to avoid plastic. The conversation went something like this:


Malcolm of Pakt and Seahive: “It’s important that we eliminate ALL plastic from the packaging”

Claire: “No poly bag?”

Malcolm: “No poly bag, no plastic wrapping. We have designed it so that we don’t even need a piece of plastic tape in the packaging.”

Claire: “Oh, wow. OK got it.” She then turned and rattled off the stern “NO PLASTIC” message to her factory staff in multiple languages with the new “X” hand sign.


Pakt’s crowdfunding campaign has been very successful which is good news for SeaHive. We plan to raise awareness of the problem of ocean plastic pollution among consumers through the huge number of products created and distributed around the world. The core of our business model involves helping companies make the switch to plastic free packaging, so the more products we are able to repackage, the more people we are able to reach with our message. Each product becomes one less product with packaging that can end up in the oceans. Pakt’s success means that our very first project will put the plastic-free message in the hands of 10,000 people! Not a bad start.

The long-term goal is to shift expectations so that we, as consumers, begin to prefer and then demand that manufacturers make the relatively small extra effort required to avoid plastic packaging. We believe this is the modest start of something very big, and we’re glad you’re here from the beginning. Ideally, factory managers around the world will soon use Claire’s “X” hand sign and “No plastic!” message with their staff.

Will you help us build this movement by telling your friends? Share it, forward it, or shout it too the world– whatever method you choose we appreciate the help!

Our nascent social channels:

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Talk soon,
SeaHive