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Advice

How Allbirds, Patagonia, and Reformation Choose Their Sustainability Priorities

We analyze how seven sustainable ecommerce companies choose packaging that aligns with their priorities.

Video

How to Make Your Packaging More Sustainable

Sustainability is much bigger than recyclability. To truly start to understand the impact of your packaging on the environment ask yourself these four questions.

Opinion

Slash Packaging: Earth needs progress not perfection

Why something is better than nothing. Reflections on the first year of Slash Packaging.

Advice

4 Ways to Minimize the Environmental Impact of Your Packaging

Simple strategies to cut down on excessive packaging and keep your footprint minimal.

Video

Unboxing Package Free Shop

How does a packaging-centric brand create a waste-free shipping experience? Find out.

Video

Unboxing Rothy's

Rothy's is prioritizing a more sustainable end-to-end packaging experience for shipping their flats. See how they thought through the returns process for an efficient and less wasteful customer experience.

Video

Unboxing Allbirds

If their shoes are made from sugar cane and tree fibers, then you can bet that the box isn’t basic. On Unboxing Things, see how Allbirds is reimagining the shoe box.

Bulletin

Release Notes: Sustainability Properties

A new feature to help you make more environmentally sound packaging decisions.

Podcast

Tabea Soriano: Making Sustainability Practical – Well Made E40

Former Head of Product of Reformation and startup sustainability advisor, Tabea Soriano, shares social and environmental strategies to integrate into identity and business.

Roundup

Second Life Packaging: A Clever Approach to Sustainability

Designs for reusable packaging that skip the recycling bin.

Roundup

A Perfect Fit: Sustainability Through Snug Packaging

8 clever solutions to minimize your packaging for less waste and cheaper shipping.

Bulletin

Release Notes: 7 New Sustainability Properties to Reduce and Reuse Packaging

Expanding our framework of strategies to help you make better packaging decisions.

Report

Mitigating Paper Emissions Through Sustainable Forestry

A deep dive into the forests and paper mills that produce one of the most important materials on the planet.

Bulletin

Announcing Lumi ID: Making Packaging Transparency Accessible to All

We're launching Lumi ID, our most powerful sustainability tool to date.

Roundup

Holiday Gift Guide 2020

For your holiday gifting, we curated 50 brands that have joined the Slash Packaging movement.

Video

Unboxing Bite Toothpaste

A totally new way to ship (and use) toothpaste.

Report

Box Recovery is Up, but Curbside Contamination Could Hold Back Recycling

The blue bin isn't the end of the line for recycling. How can consumers increase the recyclability of old boxes?

Video

Unboxing Reformation

Dig into Reformation's approach to shipping sustainably.

Video

Unboxing Everlane

Everlane's sustainable, high quality approach to apparel extends to their packaging too.

Video

Unboxing HiBar

See how this brand is raising the bar on plastic-free hair care.

Advice

Why you should give your customers a low-packaging option

Companies like Glossier and Function of Beauty are giving customers packaging opt-outs at checkout. We explore why you should consider it too.

Video

Unboxing Blueland

Blueland is showing how to create a brand experience made just for ecommerce.

Advice

11 Strategies to Make Your Packaging More Sustainable

Your packaging sustainability toolkit. Start where you can, and set goals for the future.

Podcast

Jenny Gyllander, Thingtesting: Testing Things – Well Made E73

On the Thingtesting Instagram, Jenny Gyllander offers her perspective on products from the lens of a consumer and a venture capitalist.

Video

Unboxing Dropps

See how Dropps fits 64 loads of laundry into their cleverly constructed box.

Video

Unboxing Native (2021)

What's missing from this plastic-free deodorant packaging is the most impressive thing about it.

Report

How China’s Recycling Bans Have Impacted The Fate of Curbside Recycling in the U.S.

A timeline of the impact of China's import restrictions on U.S. recycling.

Video

Unboxing by Humankind

Sturdy where it counts and no plastic in sight.

Podcast

Alden Wicker: Impressing the eco-nerds – Well Made E139

Sustainability is not binary. Returning guest reporter Alden Wicker is breaking down what we talk about when we talk about sustainability and exposing common red herrings.

Video

How Corrugated Boxes are Made

We're on site at US Corrugated to track the lifecycle of corrugated boxes.

Podcast

Jeffrey Hollender, Seventh Generation: Taking Responsibility – Well Made E88

As the co-founder of Seventh Generation and Sustain Natural, Jeffrey Hollender knows what it takes to build transparent businesses with a focus on sustainability. On this episode he shares successes, failures, and his current efforts to shift fundamental systems.

Podcast

Céline Semaan, Slow Factory: Unlearning and reeducating – Well Made E129

Céline Semaan, founder of Slow Factory, is bringing us up to speed. This episode is a lesson on unlearning the systems we know and getting familiar with the discomfort of change.

Advice

Ask Lumi: Is Compostable Plastic Better for the Planet?

Answering your questions about the complexity of compostable plastic packaging.

Podcast

Iris Alonzo, Everybody: Talking Trash – Well Made E19

Iris is taking her learnings from American Apparel and applying them to EVERYBODY, a new brand founded on ethics and ecology.

Video

Unboxing Clean Cult

Unboxing Things is back, and we're unboxing from home, starting with a refillable, modular, packaging delight.

Advice

Ask Lumi: Does Soy Ink Actually Make a Difference?

Answering your questions about the environmental impact of ink and how you can cut down on VOCs.

Advice

Does Your Slash Packaging Page Answer These 5 Questions?

Inspiration from some of the pioneers of the Slash Packaging movement.

Podcast

Leah Thomas: Protecting people and planet – Well Made E124

What does it mean to be an "intersectional environmentalist" and how can companies follow suit? We're talking to Leah Thomas, the person who coined the term.

Advice

How Seventh Generation designed their Zero Plastic cleaning line

We're talking to the Seventh Generation packaging team about their new plastic-free, water-free line of cleaning products.

Podcast

Adam Simone, Leaf Shave: Engineering Lifelong Razors – Well Made E83

Hear how founder Adam Simone took his experience creating medical-grade tools to develop a refillable, plastic-free Leaf razor.

Podcast

Carter Comstock and Michael Wystrach, Freshly: Making it Easy to Eat Healthy – Well Made E59

The founders of Freshly, a healthy, heat-and-eat meal subscription brand talk about making fresh foods that ship in the mail.

Advice

How to Estimate the Carbon Footprint of Your Packaging

A guide to estimating the carbon emissions of your packaging, and how to reduce and offset them.

Podcast

Caspar Coppetti, On Running: Subscribing to a shoe – Well Made E137

What does it take to make a shoe recyclable and how do you get customers to recycle it? Caspar Copetti and his team at On are testing their hypotheses with a whole new supply chain for a subscription based shoe.

Podcast

Erin Wallace, ThredUp: Replacing Consumer Behavior – Well Made E95

Shopping secondhand significantly offsets the amount of waste produced by the fashion industry. ThredUp's Brand Director talks sustainability, stigma, and streamlining resale with retail.

Opinion

Slash Packaging

A movement to make packaging information accessible to all

Podcast

Vanessa Barboni Hallik, Another Tomorrow: Rethinking Your Framework – Well Made E116

Vanessa is taking us through the carefully considered, incremental decisions it took to build an ethical supply chain for Another Tomorrow.

Podcast

Nellie Cohen, Patagonia: Celebrating the Stories We Wear – Well Made E52

A talk with Patagonia's Worn Wear Manager, Nellie Cohen on the logistics and marketing of repairing and selling used clothing online

Roundup

Could These Materials be the Future of Packaging?

10 material substitutes for traditional paper and plastic.

Podcast

Emily Sugihara, Baggu: Making a Really Nice Thing – Well Made E30

Ten years in, Baggu founder Emily Sugihara shares the tenants of her iconic bag brand and the discipline in good design.

Video

Does it Recycle? Testing the Most Common Types of Packaging

Debunking the recyclability of some of the most common types of packaging.

Podcast

Kevin Kelly: Becoming good ancestors – Well Made E145

As a futurist, purveyor of tech tools, and the founding executive editor of Wired, Kevin Kelly has spent a lot of time thinking about the future. But his latest project is a 50-year visual anthology that cherishes the past while bringing a more long-term vision into focus.

Podcast

Alden Wicker: Trying to Do Right – Well Made E113

Decreased emissions don't paint the full picture of COVID-19's environmental impact. Sustainable fashion journalist Alden Wicker takes us beyond the idea of conscious consumerism as the pandemic magnifies environmental and human crises in the apparel supply chain.

Podcast

Ian Montgomery, Guacamole Airplane: Getting comfortable with trade-offs – Well Made E138

Ian Montgomery, founder and Creative Director of Guacamole Airplane is merging environmental science and design to push the limits of how we think about sustainable packaging.

Podcast

Emily Sugihara, Baggu: Getting Weirder – Well Made E71

A year after our first talk, Baggu founder Emily Sugihara shares how they're preserving the heart of the bag brand.

Podcast

Hillary Peterson, True Botanicals: Looking to Nature – Well Made E123

True Botanicals founder Hillary Peterson debunks the idea that natural products can’t outperform toxic ones, and dives into the implications of cost and customer education.

Video

Packaging Strategies for E-Commerce Returns

Let’s talk about some packaging strategies you can use to make returns easier on your customers.

Podcast

Davis Smith, Cotopaxi: Navigating Difficult Times – Well Made E115

Cotopaxi founder Davis Smith has always faced tough decisions with a people-first approach. Davis is making a case for sustainable shifts to capitalism.

Podcast

Jeremy Lang, Pela: Using Waste as Currency – Well Made E105

Phone cases don’t need to last a lifetime, but in a landfill, they might. Pela founder Jeremy Lang shares how he developed the compostable flax-based phone case material and how Pela is making a place for itself in the responsibility economy.

Podcast

Iva Pawling, Richer Poorer: Feeling Good, Being Good – Well Made E29

A conversation with Iva Pawling CEO of Richer Poorer, an innerwear brand dedicated to the omnichannel approach.

Podcast

Chris Kirby, Ithaca Hummus: Making it onto the grocery list – Well Made E125

In the midst of a pandemic-induced ecommerce boom, Ithaca Hummus is doing just fine in grocery stores’ deli sections. Founder Chris Kirby talks about the experiential role of retail, staying smart and flexible, and separating trends from universal truths.

Podcast

Lindsay Dahl, Beautycounter: Fixing Broken Beauty Laws – Well Made E93

Beautycounter takes their mission straight to Capitol Hill. Hear how SVP of Social Mission, Lindsay Dahl lobbies for clean beauty.

Podcast

Kyle Chayka: Longing for Less – Well Made E110

Minimalism goes deeper than aesthetics — way deeper. In his debut book, "The Longing for Less", writer Kyle Chayka goes back to the roots of minimalism to pivot our modern interpretations away from aesthetic and more toward sourcing.

Podcast

Chelsea Mozen, Etsy: Scaling Environmental Accountability – Well Made E122

Etsy's Director of Sustainability shares how the maker marketplace is measuring and taking responsibility for their ecological impact.

Podcast

Peter Dering, Climate Neutral: Offsetting Carbon – Well Made E109

Peter Dering, founder of Peak Design, shares why he is starting a new nonprofit called Climate Neutral to help brands become carbon neutral.

Video

Void Fill Options for Your Packaging

We cover the pros and cons of the types of void fill that don’t require any machinery.

Podcast

Andy Fallshaw, Bellroy: Designing for longevity – Well Made E133

Bellroy CEO and Co-founder Andy Fallshaw is debunking status quo for profit, purpose and product design, and evolving to meet the needs of our planet.

Podcast

Meika Hollender, Sustain Natural: Having the Sustainable Sex Talk – Well Made E65

A conversation with Sustain Natural founder, Meika Hollender on starting an all-natural period and sex startup with her dad.

Podcast

Stuart Landesberg, Grove Collaborative: Prioritizing the Long Term – Well Made E104

Momentum is building around sustainable purchasing and Stuart Landesberg believes this is just the beginning. The CEO and Co-founder of Grove Collaborative shares a piece-by-piece sustainability strategy and the outlook that could make Grove a 100-year company.

Podcast

Wylie Robinson, Rumpl: Aspiring to ubiquity – Well Made E135

What does it take to be the first big blanket brand in the past couple centuries? Fresh off his Shark Tank pitch, Wylie Robinson is sharing his plan to make Rumpl a household name.

Podcast

Kendra Pierre Louis: Motivated by obligation – Well Made E151

Climate reporter Kendra Pierre Louis's bylines follow the impacts of climate change in all forms — from caterpillar plagues to wildfire season. To solve climate change, she's shifting the lens from consumers to companies and regulators.

Podcast

Sarah Paiji Yoo, Blueland: Changing Consumer Behavior – Well Made E97

Blueland is taking the refill model and dehydrating it. Founder and CEO Sarah Paiji Yoo takes us behind the scenes of Blueland's busy first year, the struggles to find a manufacturer for their cleaning tablets, and pitching on Shark Tank.

Podcast

Carl Rivera, Shopify: Building direct relationships – Well Made E131

When Shopify acquired Tictail, Carl Rivera took the lead on Shop — Shopify's shopping app that boosts brand discovery and lowers acquisition costs.

Podcast

Manish Chandra, Poshmark: Letting Community Lead the Way – Well Made E89

We sit down with Poshmark founder and CEO, Manish Chandra to talk about the logistics of the resale marketplace, and building social ecommerce experiences.

Bulletin

You can now hire exceptional packaging agencies and freelancers with Lumi Experts

Discover our new partnership program for experts in packaging design, engineering, sustainability consulting and supply chain

Podcast

Cynthia Power, Eileen Fisher: Closing the Clothing Loop – Well Made E78

A discussion on designing for longevity with the Director of EILEEN FISHER Renew.

Podcast

Mike Lackman, Trade Coffee: Creating a Customer Journey – Well Made E103

Trade Coffee is delivering on discovery, but the subscription part is more complex than it seems. Hear how they've optimized for their roasters and their customers.

Podcast

Ara Katz, Seed: Seeding – Well Made E80

Breaking down the science of the microbiome with Seed.

Podcast

Ask Lumi: Looking Back on 100 Episodes – Well Made E100

Jesse and Stephan are answering your questions about the podcast, packaging, ecommerce, and Lumi.

Podcast

Elizabeth Segran: Predicting the Next Decade – Well Made E106

Fast Company Senior Staff Writer Elizabeth Segran reflects on the past decade of consumer trends and makes some insightful predictions about how gradual consumer shifts have lead to substantial changes in what consumers expect of brands.

Podcast

Ollie and Lerer Hippeau, Ollie: Launching a New Unboxing – Well Made E75

Ollie Sr. Operations Manager, Nancy Walton, and Lerer Hippeau Principal investor, Caitlin Strandberg talk about the supply chain strategy behind Ollie's new packaging redesign.

Podcast

Kerry Cooper, Rothy's: Turning All the Dimmers Up – Well Made E81

Rothy's burst into the shoe market with flats made from recycled water bottles in 2016. Three years later, Kerry Cooper, the President of Rothy's, talks about treading new ground with the overseas expansion of their sustainable slip-on.

Video

Unboxing Thousand

This helmet brand is investing in just three packaging components to deliver on a commitment to safety and sustainability.

Podcast

Jeremiah McElwee, Thrive Market: Sourcing more patiently – Well Made E144

As the natural food market has boomed, Thrive Market's Jeremiah McElwee has learned that scaling a healthy, sustainable supply chain takes patience and a constant pursuit of perfection.

Podcast

Kristy Caylor, For Days: Keeping clothing out of landfills – Well Made E141

On average, each person in the US sends 70 pounds of textiles to a landfill each year. For Days founder Kristy Caylor is building a textile recovery stream to close the loop and build a supply chain fueled by fashion waste.

Podcast

Tyler Mincey, Bolt: Taking things apart – Well Made E147

Tyler Mincey is a Partner at Bolt where he's always thinking about the long view of new products. With a decade of product experience, he's envisioning a future of tech that's more integrated and ambient than ever before.

Bulletin

Meet Lumi Search and Supplier Profiles: What if finding a manufacturer was easy?

Announcing our new tools to help you find and work with packaging and print suppliers

Video

Unboxing Blue Bottle Coffee

A minimal subscription unboxing with secrets to efficient fulfillment.

Podcast

Eric Edelson, Fireclay Tile: Knowing What it Means to Be a Good Business – Well Made E119

In 2008, Fireclay Tile CEO Eric Edelson brought the tile business direct-to-consumer, and he hasn't looked back. He talks us through scaling past max capacity, becoming a B Corp, and staying recession proof.

Advice

Reduce Your Packaging Costs: 30 Strategies

Our first ebook distills strategies to reduce packaging costs with real-world examples from IKEA, Walmart, P&G, Dell, Glossier and more.

Podcast

Scott Tannen, Boll & Banch: Starting from scratch – Well Made E134

“Whether you plan to be transparent or not, transparency is going to find you.” With end-to-end control of the supply chain, Boll & Branch is building a business that’s better for people and the planet.

Podcast

Hilary Milnes, Vogue Business: Streaming the runway – Well Made E140

It’s been two years since Vogue Business editor Hilary Milnes was on the show to share her DTC retail predictions. One year into the pandemic, trend trajectories have spiked, forcing brands to accelerate faster than anyone predicted.

Roundup

Packaging That Lasts: 10 Uses for Cotton Bags

No matter what you're shipping, cotton bags can make your product feel extra special.

Podcast

Laura Behrens Wu, Shippo: Shipping is changing – Well Made E146

After a record year of ecommerce, Shippo CEO Laura Behrens Wu returns with an update on the current state of shipping. Customers want more choice and transparency at checkout, and mega shippers' shortcomings are making way for more fragmented, hyperlocal logistics.

Bulletin

Custom Manufacturing Should be as Scalable as the Web

Announcing Lumi’s Series A, led by Spark Capital, Forerunner Ventures and Homebrew.

Bulletin

Release Notes: Standardized Quality

Raising the bar for quality with new features and services that standardize capabilities across the Lumi Network.

Podcast

Stephan Ango: Following Through – Well Made E121

A short meditation about the relationship between racism and climate change, and what we can do to better support Black businesses.

Advice

What every brand can learn from Amazon's Frustration-Free Packaging guidelines

Whether or not you sell on Amazon, there is a lot to learn from their packaging.