Puma's Clever Little Shoe Bags
And so another old friend may bite the dust as Puma announces a new design for its shoeboxes. In the future, customers will receive shoes packed in "cardboard frames wrapped in reusable shoe bags called the 'Clever Little Bag.'"
Introduced and illustrated on the company's website, the new design should start appearing in the second half of next year.
The Daily Telegraph reports the footwear maker expects to eventually save 8,500 tons of paper each year, cut its carbon footprint by saving 20m megajoules of electricity as well as reducing by 60 percent the water and energy used during production. This expectation is tempered by an admission from Puma chief executive Jochen Zeitz that although the "switch to sustainable packaging will be cost neutral in the mid to long term ... the packaging would impose higher costs in the short term because sustainable materials still cost more than unsustainable materials."
Puma boasts that the new design is a result of "more than 2,000 ideas and 40-plus packaging prototypes" considered and rejected during a 21-month development period. And despite initial additional costs, the fact that the new style will ultimately be both "eco-friendly" and "sustainable," apparently resolves company concerns.
"Boxes are everywhere, boxes have been around longer than the wheel, our lives are filled with them, we work in boxes. For a long time boxes made our lives easier. But at some point boxes became a problem," as Puma's statement explains.
The Telegraph bemoaned the demise of cardboard shoe boxes used as "mini-depositories for love letters, bric-a-brac and photographs ... leaving attics around the world ... significantly messier."
But famed industrial designer Yves Behar, who led the packaging redesign, said in a statement that he hopes others follow their lead.
"Puma's initiative to look closely at one of the most challenging issues facing the retail industry in regards to sustainability and environmental harm was inspirational," said Mr. Behar. "In changing the packaging and distribution life cycle from the ground up, we hope our new design and comprehensive solution encourages other retail companies to follow suit."
Discussion Questions: Are consumers ready for reusable shoe bags to replace cardboard shoeboxes? What other products do you think may significantly change traditional packaging styles?