Eco-Friendly Packaging Redesign for CoverGirl Cosmetics
This paper proposes a redesign of CoverGirl cosmetics' packaging to make it fully biodegradable, arguing that such a change would benefit both the environment and the company's bottom line. Drawing on the concept of environmental concern among CoverGirl's core demographic — women aged 16 to 35 — the paper explains why eco-friendly packaging is both a market necessity and a corporate responsibility. It references examples from the food industry, such as McDonald's shift away from Styrofoam, and from the cosmetics sector, notably Aubrey Organics, to illustrate practical biodegradable packaging solutions. The paper concludes that a dedicated packaging committee should lead this initiative.
- Introduction: The Case for Eco-Friendly Cosmetics Packaging: CoverGirl identified as candidate for green packaging
- Defining Biodegradable Packaging: Biodegradability defined with McDonald's example
- Environmental Awareness Among CoverGirl's Core Demographic: Target consumers aged 16–35 value environmental responsibility
- Benefits of Redesigning CoverGirl's Packaging: Corporate and consumer benefits including guilt-free purchasing
- Learning from Aubrey Organics and Other Green Packaging Leaders: Aubrey Organics as a biodegradable packaging model
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What makes this paper effective
- Uses a clear real-world business scenario — redesigning CoverGirl's packaging — to ground an environmental argument in practical terms.
- Supports claims with cited academic and dictionary definitions, lending credibility to key concepts like "environmental concern" and "biodegradable."
- Draws on cross-industry comparisons (McDonald's, Aubrey Organics) to show that biodegradable packaging is feasible and already proven.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper integrates a formal scholarly definition of "environmental concern" (Abdul-Muhmin, 2007) to link consumer psychology with a business strategy recommendation. This technique — anchoring a practical proposal in peer-reviewed theory — is a useful model for applied business and marketing essays.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by introducing CoverGirl as a candidate for packaging reform, then defines biodegradability and explains its relevance. It identifies the target demographic and their environmental values, outlines corporate benefits including guilt-free purchasing, and closes with a competitor case study (Aubrey Organics) as a model for implementation. Each section builds logically on the previous one, moving from problem identification to actionable recommendation.
Introduction: The Case for Eco-Friendly Cosmetics Packaging
Many companies have redesigned their packaging to make it more environmentally friendly, approaching this challenge in a variety of ways. Packaging design has become an important site of corporate environmental responsibility across industries. The purpose of this discussion is to propose a redesign of the packaging system used by CoverGirl cosmetics.
CoverGirl is an international cosmetics company that could benefit greatly by making its packaging more environmentally friendly. One of the primary ways this can be accomplished is by making not only the exterior packaging, but also the plastic packaging that surrounds the actual makeup, fully biodegradable. Making packaging biodegradable reduces the amount of waste and pollutants that harm the environment.
Defining Biodegradable Packaging
Biodegradable products are those that are "capable of being broken down especially into innocuous products by the action of living things (as microorganisms)" (Merriam-Webster, 2009). Biodegradation is a natural process that, when built into product packaging, significantly reduces environmental waste over time.
Companies in other industries have already made this shift. For instance, McDonald's now uses paper to package its burgers and fries, replacing the Styrofoam packaging it once used. This change has greatly reduced both the volume and the environmental impact of the waste McDonald's produces, demonstrating that large consumer brands can successfully transition to biodegradable materials.
Works Cited
Abdul-Muhmin, A. G. (2007). Explaining consumers' willingness to be environmentally friendly. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 31, 237–247.
Biodegradable. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved September 15, 2009, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biodegradable
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