In the past few months, the education committee of the Emerging Leadership Council (ELC) has made significant progress in its efforts to develop resources to empower Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) member companies to effectively educate families and communities about the benefits of flexible packaging.
The committee strives to combat the negative stigma surrounding the plastics industry by building a strong foundation of educational materials that highlight the importance and benefits of as well as the need for flexible packaging.
Among these educational materials are the “Let’s Talk Flexible Packaging” one-pagers, which introduce users to individual topics relating to flexible packaging. Each one-pager includes important statistics and facts about a topic, a downloadable educational activity, and a related experiment to get youth involved and excited. The first topic concerned the important role that flexible packaging plays in reducing food waste.
For these “Let’s Talk Flexible Packaging” one-pagers to be successful, the ELC needed a platform that would reach FPA member companies and educators. After collaborating with FPA’s marketing firm, The Cyphers Agency, the team decided the best way to achieve greater outreach was to use FPA’s consumer-facing website, www.perfectpackaging.org.
Cyphers redesigned the Perfect Packaging website so educators, consumers, and FPA members can easily navigate and access these resources. The site now includes more direct and succinct messaging, including individual pages for each “Let’s Talk Flexible Packaging” topic.
A link on each page directs users to the Drop-off Directory at www.bagandfilmrecycling.org, which explains which plastic films are recyclable, how to recycle them, and where they can find their nearest store drop-off location.
In the coming months, we will begin outreach to get this important resource into the hands of educators and school systems. We ask that all of you, as FPA members, encourage your families, children, and grandchildren to use this wonderful tool to educate themselves and others about flexible packaging.
While the Perfect Packaging website is a fantastic asset, the ELC education committee wanted an additional way to reach consumers—and what better way to do so than to hop on the ever-trending TikTok bandwagon?
Capitalizing on Social Media
Millions of monthly active users spend countless hours on TikTok and other social media platforms watching lifestyle influencers’ videos, creating a perfect opportunity to collaborate with “Day in the Life”/“Mom Hacks” influencers with large followings for TikTok and social media campaigns promoting the benefits of flexible packaging.
The Cypher’s Agency will manage this initiative, which kicked off with a series of Instagram posts by influencer Chelsee Hood. Hood’s posts focused on easy ways to properly recycle plastic films found around the average home and featured tips for getting kids involved in recycling. Each post tagged The Perfect Packaging’s Instagram page (@ThePerfectPackaging), mentioned the Drop-off Directory, and included the hashtag #theperfectpackaging. To see her posts, go to her Instagram account @chelseehood or search posts with @ThePerfectPackaging.
Alana Carr is chair of the Education Committee and inside sales and marketing manager for Hosokawa Alpine American, Inc. in Northborough, Massachusetts.