Loud Bicycle is bent on changing the world, one bike horn at a time. From the horn itself, to the box it’s shipped in, we want our customers to feel great about their purchase. In honor of Plastic Free July, we’d like to shine some light on the strides we’ve made environmentally as a company.
When we were redesigning our horn shipping box, we knew we needed something stable enough to protect our horns for safe transit, but also lightweight, so that we could pass on shipping savings to our customers. Our new box design is how we are able to offer free domestic shipping on all horn orders!
The first manufacturer we tested wanted us to use foam, which while more eco-conscious than plastic, has a low biodegradability score, and is labor-intensive to recycle and thus not accepted in many recycling facilities.
Eventually we were lucky enough to find a manufacturer comfortable using cardboard, that had access to recycled cardboard as well. Our first cardboard design wasn’t sturdy enough; we need to have a box that protects your baby! But in trying to create that perfect sturdiness, we experienced some funny miscommunications. We had asked for a design 4mm thick, but they gave us a box 4 layers thick! Our box looked as if it had eaten too many donuts—it was giant and preposterous and hilarious. 🙂 After some back and forth, we settled on a thickness that Goldilocks would say is juuuuust right. Watch our friend Andy Garcia do a drop test and see for yourself!
Built out of one piece of cardboard, our new box design minimizes waste by using the remaining cardboard to shape the inserts.
Plus, the new design has many little cardboard cubbies to accommodate customers buying accessories—as many accessories as they want—all protected with our cardboard ingenuity.
Our mission is to make biking safer, something we know will lessen individuals’ environmental impact over time— but our environmental footprint as a company is something we care a great deal about, too. Let us know what you think of our box redesign in the comments below!
