Last week I attended Packaging Strategies’ Sustainable Packaging Forum in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Forum brought together leaders from across industries and specialties to share the latest sustainable packaging practices, business strategies and technologies from around the globe. Now in its ninth year, this Forum has become a great collaborative opportunity to find solutions and innovations that support company growth while meeting today’s sustainability challenges.
The Forum is a great place to showcase the SFI program and demonstrate how companies can achieve their sustainability goals by using materials certified to the SFI Standard in their product packaging designs. We can all make a difference on-the-ground today to ensure healthy forests for tomorrow. And by asking for SFI, companies are showing they care about the responsible use of natural resources through responsible purchasing decisions and actions.
While representing SFI, I also learned a great deal from other participants’ achievements.
I particularly enjoyed the presentation by Scott Griffin, Chief Sustainability Officer at Greif, Inc. Greif is a global leader in industrial packaging and an SFI certified landowner. It is incredible to see the innovations that come from companies like Greif that are building sustainability into all aspects of their research and design. Case in point: the Greif PackH2O™ Water Backpack.
In Haiti while helping to install a rain catchment system in a rural village, Greif President & CEO David Fischer saw women carrying water in containers on their heads, and children lugging jerry cans and buckets of water. The loads were heavy, typically weighing 44 pounds and difficult to carry for so many miles. Plus the containers were filthy inside and likely contaminated by chemicals. Fischer knew there had to be a better way — and challenged the company to find one. The solution was the clever Greif PackH2O backpack that makes it easier and safer for these women and children to get water home.
SFI is honored to partner with leading packaging companies like Greif that make the world a better place, both with innovative products and by placing a high priority on sustainability.
Jason Metnick VP, Consumer Affairs
