| In the past few years, "going green" has become | | | | card. In these types of packaging, the CD or DVD |
| very important for almost every type of | | | | is held in die-cut slots or paper holders. You can |
| business. The CD and DVD packaging industry | | | | keep it very simple and use a printed card wallet |
| have been no different. In fact, promoting | | | | or you try something special like the Disc Box |
| environmentally friendly products has become a | | | | Slider. A new and ingenious product available is the |
| major marketing focus. So what are your options | | | | Jakebox which holds the media in a patented |
| if you want to package your media and reduce | | | | paper "claw". In addition, you can request that the |
| your carbon footprint at the same time? | | | | card used for the creation of the packaging is |
| Your first option is to limit the amount of plastic in | | | | recycled. Paper types such as Resa offset are |
| the packaging that you use for your CD or DVD. | | | | made of 100% post consumer recycled fibres |
| Packaging has always focussed on the use of | | | | instead of virgin fibres. If you like the idea of a |
| plastics mainly because plastics are cheap and | | | | tray, there is a product called the Paperfoam tray |
| easy to use. The industry standard for an audio | | | | which is made of starch and cellulose. It can be |
| CD is still the jewel case which is made of | | | | used in the place of plastic trays in products such |
| polystyrene. The industry standard for the DVD is | | | | as the digipak. This product has already been used |
| the Amaray DVD case which is made of | | | | in music releases for artists such as Keane and |
| polypropylene and the new box for the Blu-ray | | | | Motley Crue. |
| will also be made of this material. Keeping the | | | | A third option, which can be used in combination |
| sizes and styles of alternative packaging similar to | | | | with the above choices, is to request the usage |
| the industry standards has been very important | | | | of soy or vegetable based inks in the printing |
| when developing a solution which consumers | | | | process. Not many manufacturers offer this at |
| would recognise and accept. The Digipak is a | | | | the moment but it is increasing in popularity. |
| fantastic alternative to the jewel case and the | | | | Keep in mind that there are significant additional |
| DVD case. It is made mostly of thick printed card | | | | costs to the production of environmentally friendly |
| and only includes plastic trays as the holders for | | | | packaging. In quantities around 1000 units, the |
| the CD or DVD. The digipak can hold several discs | | | | costs for recycled paper and vegetable based |
| by increasing the number of panels and it can also | | | | inks can triple the standard pricing. If your budget |
| hold booklets and small promotional items. It looks | | | | can handle this not only will you feel good about |
| expensive and impressive because of the large | | | | the low environmental impact; you will also have |
| amount of space available for graphic display. | | | | distinct packaging that will gather more attention |
| Another option is to eliminate the plastic | | | | from your prospects. |
| altogether and use packaging made entirely out of | | | | |