Eight Sustainable Packaging Alternatives
- Words by Peppermint
Did you know that almost half of all plastics produced worldwide are created for the packaging industry? According to data from the World Bank, less than 14% of plastic packaging worldwide is recycled, resulting in a whopping 146 million tonnes of containers, wrappers and packets winding up in landfill every year.
The role the fashion industry plays can’t be ignored. From hang tags to garment bags, fashion retail can be plastic-heavy. The growth of e-commerce might have us using fewer plastic shopping bags, but online retail comes with its own set of problems. Happily, there are plenty of start-ups changing the way fashion businesses package and ship their products. Whether you’re an ethical fashion entrepreneur or you’re looking for ways to make your established brand more sustainable, here are 8 services to revolutionise your pack and send workflow.
Noissue
Perfect for prettifying your products before they ship, Noissue (above) makes sustainable tissue paper, decorative washi tape and stickers. Their online process makes it easy to customise your kit. Everything is produced using soy-based inks and acid-free paper made from FSC Certified wood pulp. Noissue has offices in Sydney, Auckland and around the globe. Proceeds from every order go to supporting their Eco-Packaging Alliance, which funds global reforestation projects.
ComPlast
Based in Mahana on New Zealand’s North Island, ComPlast has pioneered a plastic bag alternative that uses a wholly organic source. Their secret? Starch and resin derived from the roots of the cassava plant, which they source ethically from farmers in Java, Indonesia. Alongside a range of household plastic products (such as bin liners), ComPlast sells garment bags for packaging individual items of clothing and grip-hole shopping bags for retailers. The bags dissolve in water and decompose by 85% in just 90 days – yet they’re scientifically proven to be just as sturdy as their petroleum counterparts.
The Better Packaging Co.
Another Kiwi start-up, The Better Packaging Co. specialises in plastic-free packaging for distribution. Chic courier satchels, bubble bags and courier labels made from compostable cornstarch and other biodegradables break down within 90 days (they recommend burying the bag in your garden to speed-up the process). Better Packaging’s ØPack Range uses waste limestone salvaged from the building industry, which is ground down and turned into a flexible material through a solar-powered, zero-water process. The finished sleeves are 80% calcium carbonate and revert back to their organic components when they’re left out in the sun.
Inke
If you prefer the un-boxing effect, Melbourne-based Inke (below) is at the forefront of sustainable cardboard packaging. Brands including Myer and Lululemon are already making use of their services. They also offer solutions for small businesses, including an in-house design team who can help create your dream box.
Inke boxes are made at a family run facility in Melbourne using 100% recyclable cardboard then printed digitally using non-toxic UV inks. The nifty design is self-lockable, eliminating the need for tape or glue.
Print Together
Fed up with the lack of options available in Australia, industry veteran Calan Stanley decided to found his own sustainable printing studio. Melbourne-based Print Together offers solutions for a wide range of industries, including fashion and retail.
Swingtags, business cards, stationary, catalogues and all kinds of promotional materials are printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper using non-toxic inks. Print Together’s innovative ‘collective green printing process’ (the car-pooling of the printing world) pairs customers with similar needs to reduce energy consumption and waste.
Etiko and Freeset
They consistently top the list as one of Australia’s best ethical fashion brands, but did you know that Etiko also do custom printing? Whether it’s staff t-shirts or reusable tote bags for packing garments, the Fairtrade and B Corp Certified business can make it – from GOTS Certified cotton, no less.
Similarly, Fair Trade Guaranteed Freeset makes customisable tote bags, gift bags and t-shirts from GOTS cotton and jute. Everything is printed and sewn at their workshop in Calcutta, India, which provides jobs and training for survivors of human trafficking.
Sendle
As Australia’s first carbon neutral delivery service, Sendle is changing the shipping landscape as we know it (they’ve even issued a challenge to Aus Post to offset their emissions). The B Corporation is tailored for small businesses, offering competitive rates on door-to-door shipping. Perks include free pick up, guaranteed delivery, and tracking. Every shipment is offset through Sendle’s partnership with South Pole, a Swiss company that funds emissions reduction and renewable energy projects all over the world.
WORDS: EMILY LUSH MAIN IMAGE: NOISSUE
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TOGETHER WE STITCH RETURNS! 🪡✨
Ditch the dishes. Clear your cutting table. Pop the kettle on. Because Together We Stitch is back from 15 to 22 March for seven joy-filled days of sewing, learning and reveling in the joy of shared community, no matter where you are in the world!
Hosted by Megan from @SewAndTell.Co, this global online sewing event brings thousands of makers together for a week of practical know-how, confidence boosts and those “why didn’t I know this sooner?!” moments.
This year’s line-up is packed with masterclasses and practical inspiration, like:
🪡 Simple knit finishing tricks to make your garments look store-bought by @SewAndTell.Co’s Megan Linley
🪡 Troubleshooting your sewing machine by Jenni Miller from @LetsGetSewingNow
🪡 Hands-on pattern adjustments for sway back from @GinaReneeDesigns
🪡 An interview with Brandon Hayden from @HappilyDressed about building a garment around the fabric you love
🪡 Iron Care 101 by @MicheleMuska
🪡 Kate Boyle from @MindMovementHealth shares posture tips and exercises to help prevent sewing aches and pains
🪡 An easy jeans-to-skirt upcycle project from @LaCreativeMama’s Victoria Martinez Azaro
🪡 DIY custom fabrics and creative craft-room upgrades by Stephanie Young from @So_Stephanie_Says
🪡 Plus choosing prints with intention, making your dream wardrobe a reality, and meeting the creator of Project & Cut, Clinton Blackmore to talk all things PDF pattern future
Together We Stitch is all about expert-led sessions, creative demos, practical tips you can take straight to your sewing table, and a community that celebrates every win along the way. Join live or catch the replays when it suits you.
Head to togetherwestitch.com or hit the link in bio to save your seat. 🪡
#TogetherWeStitch #SewingExpo #SewingInspo #MeMade #SewingCommunity #SewistsOfInstagram
Coffee begins long before your morning cuppa! ☕️
2026 has been declared the International Year of the Woman Farmer, led by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the @UnitedNations. It’s a global spotlight with a practical purpose: to recognise women’s indispensable roles across agrifood systems, and to push for the changes that still haven’t arrived evenly, like equal access to land, finance, training, technology and decision-making.
Into that bigger picture steps Elizabeth Duna, a coffee farmer from Papua New Guinea and the chairwoman of the Keto-Tapasi Progress Association. Elizabeth is also the only female chairperson across the @FairtradeANZ cooperative network in the Pacific, overseeing farmers across the association and helping ensure Fairtrade standards are met.
We had the privilege of chatting to Elizabeth (just in time for International Woman’s Day this Sunday, too!) about what’s been growing and changing within her cooperative, what ‘fair trade’ means to her, and the hopes that manifest in a ‘simple’ bag of coffee beans.
Link in bio ☕️
#FairTrade #FairTradeCoffee #InternationalWomensDay
DIFFICULT ✊🏻✊🏽✊🏿
The collab we needed for International Women`s Day… and every day!
From @DangerousFemales:
"Hands up if you’ve ever been called difficult behind your back, to your face, or by an Australian Prime Minister during a Q&A?
DIFFICULT by Grace Tame, in her own handwriting is… one word: ICONIC!
100% of profits from our tees are donated, 100% of the time. Funds from this @TamePunk tee will go to @BerylWomen_inc, a First Nations led women’s refuge in the ACT.
Kinda ironic, don’t ya think?
Supporting an org in the parliament state with words from a politician for Australia’s longest running and underfunded women’s refuge.
Thank you @TamePunk for being difficult." 🫶🙌
Link in bio to get behind this tee!
#InternationalWomensDay #DangerousFemales #GraceTame #Difficult
NEW PATTERN ALERT 🎉
She’s giving comfort, she’s giving style, she’s giving palate-cleansing sewing. There’s nothing quite like an easy breezy dress that’s not only a dream to wear but a delight to sew, and the NEW Peppermint Myrtle Shift Dress delivers!
Cute, classic and cool with a touch of retro: the Myrtle Shift Dress is a beginner-friendly make with sleek lines and elegant curves. Bust darts are in play for shaping and spacious pockets to hold all your treasures. Top-stitching detail around the neck and armholes invites creative contrast threads and the keyhole loop closure at the back neck begs for a feature button (or a tie closure!).
Myrtle cuts above the knee with options to customise the length. Don’t think she’s reserved for hot weather either: try a heavier-weight fabric to turn your Myrtle into a pinafore-style garment for layering.
For our fabrics we chose two from @Karmme_Apparel – the bold Rottnest Stripes in a lightweight, soft-drape cotton, and the quality linen in the handpainted Mexico Collection. Karmme also stocks darling tassels so we popped a hot pink one on as a closure!
The love child of Imby Langenbach, Karmme Apparel (fittingly pronounced ‘calm’), is a haven of boho apparel sewing patterns alongside complementary fabrics steeped in tradition with modern iterations from Jaipur, India. Hand block-printed and digitally printed soft cottons produced by Indian artisans showcase rich colours and designs from Imby’s travels, perfect for showing off me-made masterpieces.
Our dresses were superbly stitched by our sewing manager @Laura_The_Maker, and modelled magnificently by Shannon @Pins_And_Tonic and Serah @SerahSews. And that perfect pink wall was courtesy of the good folk at @ShareTheDignityAustralia, an organisation that aims to bring dignity to women, girls and those who menstruate who are experiencing homelessness, domestic violence and period poverty.
Get making the Myrtle – the only question is, can you stop at just one?
Link in bio 🪡
Photos: @KelleySheenan
Sewist: @Laura_The_Maker
Patternmaker: @GarmentaApparel
Models: @SerahSews and @Pins_And_Tonic
Fabric: @Karmme_Apparel
#PeppermintMyrtleShiftDress #PeppermintPatterns
Connection 🫶🏻
Such great ideas from @GrowWithColby:
“A common theme I noticed in 2025:
Everyone is craving more connection.
Use these friend nights to make it happen in 2026.
Send this to the people you want to do these with.”
#Connection #Friends #Community
No bull - these pants are the cat`s (or cow`s) pyjamas...
Jenny from @RhubarbSundays:
And they are done! My @PeppermintMagazine #PeppermintFernPleatedPants made using a gorgeous fabric from @IndyBindyFabrics! I absolutely love this fabric! It’s soft and drapes beautifully. And the best thing about it is that, from a distance, it looks like an abstract print and then you look closer and theres a curious bull looking right at you. 🤣🤣 🐄 🐮
Really happy with the end product. They are very comfy! I didn’t make many changes to the pattern. Just a touch more room in the rise and a little bit off the waist. I’ll post some closeups of the details tomorrow when I actually take them off. 🤣 "
Grab the pattern from the link in bio!
#PeppermintPatterns #IMakeMyOwnClothes #ClothesThatFeelLikePyjamas #SewersGonnaSew
