Ethical issues in packaging practices, Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethical issues in packaging practices, - Essay Example Conventionally, the concept of ethical packaging is associated with green packaging. This can be attributed to the fact that environmental health and safety and preservation of natural resources are among the prime agendas of scientists and researchers in the present age. However, the concept of ethical packaging includes and extends beyond green packaging. Ethical packaging can be defined as a packaging that, in short, complies with the moral standards. While certain moral standards are shared by people in all sorts of cultures, there are others that change from one culture to another. One of the ethical issues in packaging is the pictures of models on the covers. This is particularly an issue in the Muslim countries. Muslim countries make a considerable portion of the consumers. In order to make a product successful in particularly some of the more conservative and orthodox Muslim countries, it is imperative that the products do not have pictures of models over their packages with any level of nudity. While this is generally not a matter of concern in the Western countries, such a packaging is not consistent with the values and teachings of Islam. The fundamental purpose of showing models over the packaging is marketing of the products. If the features of packaging offend the consumers in any way, the sole purpose of putting the models on packaging is lost. Ethical packaging constitutes green packaging given the rapid depletion of natural resources in the present age. In addition to the depleting natural resources, environmental pollution is increasing steadily with the growth of industrialization. This imparts the need for packagers to identify alternate materials with which to pack the products. Traditionally, products are packed in plastic bags. However, their difficulty of decomposition compared to paper bags makes the latter, a more environment-friendly option when it comes to packaging. But using a paper bag in place of a plastic bag has its own implica tions since it is not as strong and durable a carrier as a plastic bag is. Besides, most of the paper is recycled and the chemicals used to recycle the paper contaminate the products packaged in them. This is particularly a matter of concern for food items. When Oakland placed a ban over the use of plastic bags in general and Styrofoam food packaging in particular (Zamora, 2006), plastic manufacturers sued the city in response. According to The Coalition to Support Plastic Bag Recycling, the city did not do adequate research on the repercussions of the ban. Plastic manufacturers sued not on the grounds that their profits might be sabotaged, but instead on the grounds of environment, claiming that paper is no less harmful for the environment than plastic. The jewelery industry provides an example of how ethical packaging can be made more responsible and attractive for the consumers. Jewelery industry has started making socially responsible packaging by raising the bar on the practice s of ethical business. For example, Responsible Jewelery Council is a UK-based organization that has established international standards across the supply chain so as to introduce practices that are responsible socially, environmentally, and ethically in a transparent manner (Cohen, 2013). The movement of ethical jewelery is pervasive as it affects the method of production and