A New Year, a new resolution and probably, another futile attempt at personal development. This year, for sure, absolutely, I am determined to reduce my use of single-use plastic. Among other things, that means putting more leftovers in glass containers, swearing off plastic bottled water and—Lord knows I’ll try—trading in bags of Doritos for homemade popcorn. Why the focus on packaging? The news is loaded with articles on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, unrecyclable recyclables and growing sentiment around the world that less is more when it comes to consumer packaging.

The Happi staff spent much of December on the road, at conferences and press events throughout the US. At nearly every stop, we heard experts in all household and personal product categories demanding more action to eliminate unnecessary packaging materials. Someone is already taking action. Years ago, as a teenager, Tom Szaky was appalled at the amount of material that was discarded and sent to landfills. Today, the company he founded, TerraCycle, works with some of the leading household and personal products makers in the US and around the world to uncover new ways to reuse packaging waste. Want to learn more? Visit Happi.com where Szaky is a regular contributor to our Expert’s Opinion section.

Szaky isn’t the only one thinking about packaging reduction. According to Mintel, sub-zero waste will impact the beauty industry in the future (see p. 12). Seventh Generation and Procter & Gamble are rolling out lighter detergent bottles that use less material than standard packs. Read about how they’re doing it on p. 52 in this issue. The demand for less packaging is even helping bar soaps make a comeback in Europe, according to our EuroTrends Columnist Imogen Matthews (p. 28). Also this month, we report on the skin care trends that will impact 2019 (p. 41) and the household cleaning scents that make the most sense (p. 47).

Back to those Doritos. During my last business meeting of 2018, the lunch buffet included a bowl of single-serve packages of snacks. After mulling the situation, recalling those images of plastic waste floating both far out in the ocean and along the shoreline, and depressing photos of autopsied seabirds loaded with microplastics, I grabbed a bag and ate the damn chips. In 2019, I swear, things will be different! 

Tom Branna
Editorial Director
[email protected]