A new product-focused promotion from AMERIPEN presents some interesting facts about the efficiency of packaging to help reduce food waste. Can you guess what the product is?

This packaging quiz is courtesy of a new campaign from AMERIPEN, the American Institute for Packaging and the Environment, to highlight the invaluable role packaging plays to reduce food waste. Along the way the document provides interesting facts along about the carbon footprint—via a life cycle assessment (LCA)—of a common packaged product.

We thought we’d turn it into a quiz to see if our savvy packaging professionals readers can deduce what it is. We start by noting that as with many food and beverages, it originates on a farm.

Sadly, Americans throw away more than 20% of this product after they bring it home. What a waste at the far end of the value chain, right?  

Two-thirds of that is due to spoilage while the remaining one-third is due to preparation and serving issues.

It turns out that the product’s packaging—about 2oz in weight—is a mere 3.5% of the product’s total carbon footprint as determined by a LCA. Here are some other life-cycle assessment figures from this American staple:

Slightly more than half of the product’s carbon footprint is made in production; and

More than twice as much of its carbon footprint is in its transportation than in its packaging.

Think you know what it is? Turn the page for the reveal.

Photo credit: Designed by Freepik

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Explore fresh food packaging ideas at WestPack, February 7-9, 2017, in Anaheim, CA

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Hey, it’s milk, who knew? Perhaps a number of you.

Chart:  https://www.usdairy.com/~/media/USD/Public/DairysEnvironmentalFootprintpdf.pdf

Just two ounces of packaging—primarily high-density polyethylene—protects 8.5lb/1-gal of milk (Source: http://use-less-stuff.com/2016-research/2016-Packaging-Efficiency-Study-1.19.16.pdf). That’s pretty efficient.

 The graphic is pulled from a new promotional piece from AMERIPEN entitled “Why Is This Cow So Angry?" 

Next time you buy milk, do a favor for yourself, for the environment and for all those cows out there: Simply buy as much as you’ll use by selecting the proper packaging format and use all that you buy.

You can learn more about food waste at this AMERIPEN page: http://www.ameripen.org/food-waste/

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Explore fresh food packaging ideas at WestPack, February 7-9, 2017, in Anaheim, CA

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