Week Three: Recycled Shoe box packaging

The Task: Design a theoretical prototype of a multi use shoe/trainer/boot box

For task three we were asked to produce a shoe box that used a combination of recycled goods. I began by researching the area of shoe/boot packaging  and discovered Boxes contribute to millions of tons of waste each year, I had to come up with a solution to produce a shoebox that would use minimal packaging yet still be fit for purpose. 

Research:

 I began my research by looking at brands that are currently trying to be more green when designing their product, and discovered PUMA had partnered with Fuseproject in order to create, "The Clever Box" an innovative, green packaging system...

When researching I discovered Millions of shoes shipped in this bag will reduce water, energy and diesel consumption in the manufacturing process by more than six percent per year. In summary: 8,500 tons less paper, 20 million megajoules of electricity saved, 1 million liters of fuel oil and 1 million liters of water will be conserved. During transport 500,000 liters of diesel will be saved and by replacing traditional shopping bags, the difference in weight will save almost 275 tons of plastic.

 

My Idea: ECO HEELS

Eco Heels. a company with Flare, selling fashionable statement footwear for females who want to change there lifestyles to change the planet. I looked at producing my box out materials such as Egg Carton cardboard or recycled cardboard and thought i could tie with string to prevent the use of glue similar to the 'Orange Canoe' design that we did in our learning teams previously. I also looked at other ideas such as not using any paper or cardboard inside the shoe box as it wasn't required and  or replacing the lid with a recycled paper slip on cover, using nothing but natural materials such as string to tie it and vegetable ink to make the box attractive to the buyer.

Benefits of my product: Eco Heels would be the following selling points:

* Manafactured with Recycled materials

* Recycable, biodegradable & Compostable

* Lower storage cost due to improved nesting

* Easy stackability

* Reduces freight & shipping costs

* Improved price stability, less dependence on oil, gas and resins

* Costs often lower than Plastic and foams

Eco Heels will use vegetable ink and stencils to make the design of the box more attractive to its cosumer.

 

egg carton design

layout of design 

Testing My Design on Actual Material

Conclusion:
ways to make a shoe box green could be taking the lid of a shoe box and replacing with a sheet of recycled paper. using string instead of glue to tie the box together and using egg carton material instead of cardboard and using vegetable ink to print a logo and leaving the box to its original colour. 

if you think Eco heels would be a good idea comment why & if you don't, why not!