From plant-based, bioplastic LEGO to Adidas’s first fully recyclable running shoe, companies worldwide are working hard to make their products and packaging more sustainable. Joining this fight for a sustainable environment is Nestle Japan. It recently released new packaging for its popular miniature KitKat chocolate bars, which will now be wrapped in origami paper instead of plastic. According to Adweek, Japan is the biggest market for KitKat with around four million KitKat minis sold in Japan every day. Even with the mini size, the thought of four million plastic wrappers accumulating in landfills or finding their way into our oceans is terrifying. Thankfully, this positive change is expected to reduce the brand’s plastic waste by around 380 tons per year. The new packaging is not only good for the environment, but it’s fun too! Each KitKat bar will include instructions on how to fold a traditional origami crane—a symbol of hope and healing. Customers are encouraged to turn their trash into art, with the hope that the paper will remain in use for longer. The environmentally-friendly packaging debuts with the most popular KitKat Mini flavors—original, matcha, and dark chocolate—but the positive change is just the beginning. Next year, Nestlé Japan is planning to release paper bags for its normal-sized KitKat multipacks and will also roll out single-layer paper wrappers for individual KitKats in 2021.
      Who knew, raising awareness about environmentally conscious packaging could also be this joyful?