Gotta Moo (Student Work)

Designed by Narani Kannan, she is a recent graduate from Ontario College of Art & Design with a B.DES in Graphic Design. Gotta Moo’s package focuses on the most eco-friendly method for milk packaging. This greener milk packaging solution will be made out of Sugarcane Bagasse molded pulp paper, coated inside with sugarcane lignin and printed with vegetable based inks, all based on food safe materials. Bagasse is an annually renewable plant resource and is compostable and recyclable. This can replace plastic and plastic coated packaging, which is currently used in the food/beverage industry today. This packaging solution does not rely on oil extraction and it also minimizes green house gas emissions. This new molded pulp milk packaging solution could be an eco-friendly vision of the future.

This is only a hypothetical research & design final-year school project

How will this new milk packaging solution benefit us and the planet?

Bagasse is normally seen as a waste product and incinerated, thus creating air pollution. Making a milk package out of residual sugarcane fiber actually decreases air pollution, adds value to the package, it is environmentaly friendly and is a non-invasive resource. The use of bagasse, a renewable resource, helps prevent the destruction of 30,000 acres of forest land every year. This greener solution can replace plastic bottles and virgin tree based, paper laminated cartons, replacing it with a new alternative sugarcane lignin coating.

This material can stand temperatures up to 190 degrees Fahrenheit, is microwavable and freezer safe and extremely hygenic, having been sterilized and sanitized and exposed to high temperatues during the molding process. Sugarcane Bagasse is one of the most plentiful by products of the sugar production process, and for every ton of refined sugar produced, there are two tons of bagasse produced as well. Bagasse is extremely light weight and has excellent performance characteristics.

Bagasse is in itself an agricultural waste, it is represented as 100% recycled material. There is an abundant supply of bagasse in the world. What better way is there to make a milk paper carton than using abundant, sustainable, clean material made from agricultural waste!

When designing my package I wanted to have maximum shelf impact. I wanted to attract and target consumers as they walk down an aisle full of milk packages to motivate them and pick up Gotta Moo’s package. My goal was to incorporate fresh bold and lucid colors and also maintain the current color palette for milk flavors. Each carton has large readable text with fun, tasty and mouth-watering words, which describes milk as an enjoyable nutritious beverage, but also educates consumers about its package and how it benefits their health and the environment.