The 21st century calls for a revolutionary modernization of handmade ceramics packaging. Online business is booming. Buying and selling handmade ceramics online also means storage, packing and shipping.
Since I opened my online shop on this site, I don’t just ship ceramics. I also need to store and manage my inventory.
Okay, I’m not an Amazon or Bol.com, so for me, no large-scale logistics infrastructure. I’m just looking for a simple way to store and send my work. Especially for cups, mugs and small bowls I don’t have a good storage system yet.
So it’s about time for finding a safe and future-proof way of handmade ceramics packaging and storage. For our future, I take my inspiration from the past.
Eco-friendly handmade ceramics packaging
Since I also sell my ceramics online, I have been looking for strong, safe and environmentally friendly packaging materials. The work I make with care must also be packed with care. And I have to say, I still had a lot to learn about that the last few years. They never told me that in clay school.
Corrugated cardboard, single, double or triple wall. box sizes, wrapping paper or bubble wrap, filling material, tape strength, document sleeves for packing slips, etc. etc. With the help of a good supplier of packaging materials, I learned bit by bit. But what about the environmental impact?
Recently, it has become easier. My supplier has set up a special eco-friendly section for this. That way I could easily switch. My filling material went from regular filling chips to 100% recyclable and biodegradable “Flo-Pack Green” (based on corn starch). I replaced bubble wrap with a paper version (‘Geami WrapPak’). And carrier bags were made of cheerfully colored “kraft” paper.
It’s an ongoing project. So I keep learning and working to improve my packaging. But also for storage. After all, I still had to come up with something for stock management ….
Historical ceramics packaging
A few years ago we visited Stoke-on-Trent, the historic heart of England’s ceramics. There we viewed many contemporary and also historical ceramics in museums and historic potteries (“potbanks“).
The beginning of the industrial revolution in pottery production was bad news for people and the environment in that region. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the number of coal-fired bottle kilns grew to over 4,000. Stoke-on-Trent was therefore almost permanently shrouded in a thick fog of dust and soot. People in Stoke-on-Trent (and factory workers in particular) did not live so happily ever after…
But in the field of ceramics packaging materials, they did have an environmentally friendly solution at the time. On the bumpy roads, the ceramics were transported by horse and carriage. To ensure that it arrives at its destination in one piece, they packed the precious crockery in … bales of straw.
Ceramics storage: there is a (hay) smell to it
That way of storing ceramics came to my mind recently when I was worrying about how to store my work safely. It may not be quite up to date. It’s also not a super ordered or revolutionary new way. And it’s certainly not a technologically innovative storage material with a matching name.
But it’s my way now. A box full of hay (or straw I’m not quite sure yet) is the solution for me.
So if you order a cup and there’s a hay (or straw) smell to it, you know why. That’s how I keep my ceramics fresh. At least those potters from the 18th and 19th centuries knew how to keep ceramics in the 21st century safe…
What’s the air like in Stoke-on-Trent now?
Fortunately, it is clean again in the 21st century. You can see the sun again, because the sky is no longer filled with a thick black haze.
The railway tracks on which the coals was transported have been transformed into rural paths where you are guided by bike to the various museums and city centres.
And when the grass is just been mowed, you smell the hay (or is it the straw from 1800?).
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