Saving environment with "packaging diet"
- 5 years ago
Time now for our "Life & Info" segment,... where we focus on information useful for your everyday life.
Today we are going to talk about a trend in Korea aimed at making the country and the earth a more sustainable place... beginning with eco-friendly packaging.
Our Cha Sang-mi is in the studio today.
Sang-mi, fill us in on the latest wrapping trend and where South Korea's online shopping stands on this issue now.
Sure, Mark, you know how we order everything online these days... ranging from food to furniture.
Well, I discovered this new trend of "packaging diet" is in vogue.
It literally refers to cutting down on materials harming the environment, like the masking tape, plastic and air buffers inside delivery boxes.
Online shopping has become a new norm in Korean households, the domestic amount surpassing worth 94 billion U.S. dollars in 2018.
And the number of boxes delivered?
Korea Integrated Logistics Association says that, in 2013, 1-point-4 billion boxes were delivered annually, rising to over two billion in 2016... and topping 2-point-5 billion last year.
And the amount of boxes is likely to continue rising over the coming years as well.
With this in mind,...Mr. Hwang Geum-chan, who worked as a delivery man for over a decade, came up with a remarkable idea of removing masking tape, which takes nearly a hundred years to decompose.
"Working in the parcel delivery service industry for 12 years, I thought it would be so much more convenient for people if there were boxes without tape. So I structured that box in my head and pitched the idea, and my brother designed it with me."
The brothers' flagship product, just as the company name, is the wing box, with small wings on the sides.
The 'wings' come with ecological hot melt adhesives,... harmless for people and the environment.
Mr. Hwang says with the masking tape gone, it reduces the stressful sound of packaging, making the packaging environment much more friendly.
It's quite impressive. That will really help save the environment with no tapes used and help use open our boxes more easily too. But Sang-mi, I hear you also went to check out a completely new type of delivery box...
That's right, Mark. I went to the warehouse of a delivery service company called 'Hello Nature'.
This company developed and adopted a brand new delivery box called "The Green Box".
What's so special about it?
Not only does it look completely different from a conventional paper-made box, it's also returnable.
"The major feature of Green Box is it's ability to be returned, unlike conventional boxes. Also, you open the box with a zipper instead of tape and it doesn't need plastic or air buffers to keep products fresh."
The company says it will gradually replace all of its conventional boxes with the new box.
That's good to hear. While we are talking about keeping things fresh... How about frozen food that should be stored in sub-freezing temperatures...
Right, Mark, the company has come
Today we are going to talk about a trend in Korea aimed at making the country and the earth a more sustainable place... beginning with eco-friendly packaging.
Our Cha Sang-mi is in the studio today.
Sang-mi, fill us in on the latest wrapping trend and where South Korea's online shopping stands on this issue now.
Sure, Mark, you know how we order everything online these days... ranging from food to furniture.
Well, I discovered this new trend of "packaging diet" is in vogue.
It literally refers to cutting down on materials harming the environment, like the masking tape, plastic and air buffers inside delivery boxes.
Online shopping has become a new norm in Korean households, the domestic amount surpassing worth 94 billion U.S. dollars in 2018.
And the number of boxes delivered?
Korea Integrated Logistics Association says that, in 2013, 1-point-4 billion boxes were delivered annually, rising to over two billion in 2016... and topping 2-point-5 billion last year.
And the amount of boxes is likely to continue rising over the coming years as well.
With this in mind,...Mr. Hwang Geum-chan, who worked as a delivery man for over a decade, came up with a remarkable idea of removing masking tape, which takes nearly a hundred years to decompose.
"Working in the parcel delivery service industry for 12 years, I thought it would be so much more convenient for people if there were boxes without tape. So I structured that box in my head and pitched the idea, and my brother designed it with me."
The brothers' flagship product, just as the company name, is the wing box, with small wings on the sides.
The 'wings' come with ecological hot melt adhesives,... harmless for people and the environment.
Mr. Hwang says with the masking tape gone, it reduces the stressful sound of packaging, making the packaging environment much more friendly.
It's quite impressive. That will really help save the environment with no tapes used and help use open our boxes more easily too. But Sang-mi, I hear you also went to check out a completely new type of delivery box...
That's right, Mark. I went to the warehouse of a delivery service company called 'Hello Nature'.
This company developed and adopted a brand new delivery box called "The Green Box".
What's so special about it?
Not only does it look completely different from a conventional paper-made box, it's also returnable.
"The major feature of Green Box is it's ability to be returned, unlike conventional boxes. Also, you open the box with a zipper instead of tape and it doesn't need plastic or air buffers to keep products fresh."
The company says it will gradually replace all of its conventional boxes with the new box.
That's good to hear. While we are talking about keeping things fresh... How about frozen food that should be stored in sub-freezing temperatures...
Right, Mark, the company has come