Our Smaller Boxes - FAQs

Posted on Apr 12, 2022

In 2019 we made the decision to decrease the size of our jigsaw puzzle boxes. Our regular puzzlers may have noticed the difference and we have received plenty of compliments about the changes, as well as a few questions! Below, we have addressed the Frequently Asked Questions and we hope that they point in you in the right direction.

What did you do and why did you do it?

In 2019 we made the decision to reduce the size of our boxes by a whopping 29% on average. We made this decision to become a more sustainable business: in reducing the size of the box, we are saving thousands of meters of cardboard every year. The puzzle pieces and finished jigsaw has not changed size. Previously the bagged pieces would have extra space to move around in the box whereas now they fit snuggly.

A smaller puzzle box means that our puzzles now take up less room when we transport them from factory to our customers, which ultimately reduces our carbon footprint. An added bonus is that they take up less room on your shelves, meaning you can store more of your favourite puzzles!

What is different?

Before we shrunk our boxes, we had a full-sized image on the front of the box and a smaller image on the back as well.

The only change that we have made with the smaller boxes is that we have included a third copy of the puzzle picture. This is inside the box and is removable, meaning you can use both the bottom of the box and the lid to hold your pieces, while using the removable image to look at what you are piecing together.

The puzzle image seems smaller

Previously, we had a smaller image on the back of the box as well as a full-size image on the front of the box. In this new sized box, we also include the image inside the box which is actually larger than the image that used to be on the back of the box.

The image inside is roughly the size of an A4 piece of paper. We decided to print it this size because it’s the most sustainable, and the most economical. When puzzles go into production, we print the image at the same time as we print the box and the image that is going onto the puzzle card. It fits perfectly with the same paper that we use when printing these other images, and if we were to print it any bigger then it would mean printing an entire new run. This would waste a lot of paper and is certainly not in line with our Green Game Plan.

Can’t the image be bigger and folded?

We did consider printing a larger picture to put inside the box but we decided against it for three very important reasons:

It would waste more paper
Having a folded image would be frustrating for our customers because the picture would be crinkled.
We’d have to create a new brand new machine just to fold the picture and put it inside the box. This would be more time consuming, would produce more carbon and ultimately it would mean the puzzle would be more expensive.

We try to make our puzzles accessible for all, including their price point. Ultimately, we decided against increasing the size of the puzzle image.

What else is different?

We have also removed the shrink wrap that covered our puzzles and the vast majority of our games. Instead, they are sealed with biodegradable tabs. This needs to be cut through to access the puzzle inside, and the tabs don’t actually need to be removed from the box. The tab means that at the end of the puzzle life the entire box and puzzle can be put into the recycling. Removing this shrink wrap from our boxes saves over half a million metres of plastic every year. Instead of shrink wrap, we use a gloss coating on the box which gives it extra protection and helps to keep your puzzle boxes shiny.

Are you doing anything else for the environment?

We really care about the environment here at Gibsons and are constantly striving to make our productions more environmentally friendly. We have recently partnered with One Tribe which means that for every order that is placed through our website, we make a donation to protect 100sqm on rainforest, the equivalent of five trees. We have a live counter on the front page of our website and on every product page too so you can see how many trees we have saved so far.

We are in the process of becoming carbon neutral and we are also working towards B-Corp certification, supporting us to meet high standards of social and environmental performance.