Greener packaging will not stop climate change

Each week we read about eco-friendly packaging and environmentally conscious design solutions, as in the Season’s Greenings feature (DW 29 November). Really, a reusable pine cone cracker… Isn’t it just puffed-up designers thinking they can make a difference to climate change by poncing about with slightly lighter-footed substrates, or worse still, trying to shift more tat by giving it a Greenwash?

The only way to make a significant difference is for all of us to buy fewer products. Isn’t this the truth that we packaging designers are all just too scared to face up to? And, I tell you what, I’m not going to be bringing this up with Marks & Spencer at our next Plan A discussion.

Jack Owen, Senior creative, Ice House Design, by e-mail