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More on Newton Running

by Nadia Payan on 02/06/2009 | 1 Minute Read

Editorial photographOn Dec 28th, 2008, I wrote a post about Newton Running Shoes' packaging. It was different. It was cool. It was eco-friendly...or not.I received a comment from Sir Isaac Newton himself (or maybe just IanAnderson from Backbone Media just doing his job) stating that the packaging had changedfor the sole purpose of becoming more environmentally conscious Istarted digging. Turns out:

"From Newton Running...

The shoebox featured in this story was designed by our advertisingagency and submitted to several design competitions. We liked thisdesign but after a lot of research we discovered it is not verysustainable for us to produce or ship the molded pulp shoe boxes.

We learned that not only were the pulp boxes significantly moreexpensive to make, but they are produced far from the footwear factoryand they would dramatically increase overall freight costs because theydo not stack in containers, warehouses or retail stores efficiently (aspredicted in several comments).

Newton has instead developed a newrectangular shoebox that is produced from 100% post consumer waste anduses soy-based inks. The new packaging is easy to store and ship, it’slightweight and it’s easy to break down and recycle."

Personally, it's sad to see the old look go, but I suppose this is one example where the status quo actually was the most eco-friendly packaging method. Thoughts?