Packaging has a critical role in that it’s usually the first interaction with the consumer, and because it protects products.
But unless you have feline friends, once the product emerges from its cocoon, the packaging has very little utility and purpose left, ending up in the trash. In cases where eliminating packaging is nigh to impossible, manufacturers have to find ways to reduce the amount or type of material used to minimize their impact on the environment and make their products more sustainable.
Toymaker Educational Insight devised a creative way to give their packages renewed purpose while also diverting those boxes from the trash bin.
Educational Insights latest Design & Drill Bolt Buddies are designed for 3-7-year-olds and features a motorized drill, teaching kids the basics of engineering and building, as well as developing fine motor skills. The outer packaging looks like standard toy fare, but the box flips inside-out to reveal themed playsets. The rocket box transforms into a launchpad and the surface of an unidentified celestial body while the race car’s package morphs into a section of track and grandstands.
The packaging is not only an added element of play, but it also serves as storage for all the included pieces once playtime is over. Though, when it comes to getting your kids to clean up, may the odds be ever in your favor.
The urgency to reduce packaging waste is not lost on the toy industry. Last year, Hasbro, whose toy products feature franchises such as Star Wars, Transformers, My Little Pony, and Monopoly, announced that they would phase out plastic from all their packaging by 2020.
