Around 40% of the plastic produced worldwide is needed for packaging and is usually only used once. It often ends up as waste in the world's oceans, where it collects to form islands of trash. Each individual can help alleviate this situation by recycling and avoiding waste. To raise awareness for this issue, we designed a special product our business partners can use to set an example.

We were inspired by an ancient tradition from Japan, where gifts are often wrapped in a furoshiki cloth that can be reused again and again, making disposable packaging superfluous. Our furoshiki helps reduce waste twice over, because it is made of recycled ocean plastic. Upon closer inspection, its printed design illustrates the location of the garbage patches in the world's oceans. This information is passed on to a new recipient each time the cloth is reused.

We sent the mailing as a present to a target group of personal contacts, marketing managers, brand decision-makers and multipliers – a mix of existing and precisely researched addresses. As a design agency it was important to us to link the ethical topic of sustainability with design aspects and to position ourselves as an agency partner for "sustainable design".

We entered into a personal dialogue with all contacts after the mailing. And it turned out that our gift was remembered, stimulated discussions within companies or among the personal circle of acquaintances of the presentee. So the mailing provided a starting point for discussions. It showed concrete options for action that we could influence together with our clients – for example printing techniques and choice of materials.

Our furoshiki helps reduce waste twice over. Conventional furoshiki are made of a crepe fabric called chirimen. Ours consists of recycled Ocean Plastic and illustrates the garbage patches in the world's oceans. Additional details reflect our high environmental standards. The paper used for the poster, greeting card and packaging is made from seaweed, a rapidly renewable resource. They were printed an environmentally friendly Japanese process called risography, which relies on water-based inks made with soy oil. It is not as resource-intensive and requires significantly less energy than conventional printing. Dot-screen printing also uses 30% less ink than full-tone printing.

We distributed the furoshiki accompanied by a poster and a card explaining this background information and providing tips on how to use the fabric to avoid packaging. The result: media coverage in design magazines and several project inquiries from customers who also want to use resources more responsibly in their companies.