ECOHOTEL
Repackaging Hotel Amenities
Service
Client
Packaging
& System Design
Studio Vrtta for Prakriti Herbals
Year
2020
Studio Vrtta re-designed the entire packaging system for Prakriti Herbals' Hotel bathroom amenities with the goal of long-term sustainability and circularity.
Tourism and hotels in India account for about 30% of waste generated by the nation annually. There is thus a pressing need to address unsustainable systems in the hospitality industry.
This project gave us the platform to study the existing system within the hotel amenities sector, and reimagine it for circularity. The brief was to design packaging for bathroom amenities by eliminating plastic and minimizing post-consumer waste, while also matching price points.
We took two approaches, so that the client could gauge the industry response to both, and put the more feasible design into production.
Approach 1: The Client had already updated their amenities to responsibly-sourced, plant-based alternatives. To compliment this, we experimented with agri-waste composites such as coffee husk, banana fibers and areca. We also used carbon negative materials such asunbleached recycled paper and bioplastic film. We kept the design extremely simple, allowing the natural textures to add character.
Photo Credit : Namrata Cavale
Approach 2: We designed a compact roll-up pouch made of natural fibers. This could be used to transport, store and take away amenities for continued use, eliminating the need for multiple boxes to store amenities individually. It also acts as memorabilia for the guest, and a marketing tool for the hotels. The cost of a single roll-up came up to the same as all the packaging boxes combined.
Photo Credit: Prakriti Herbals
