May 15, 2018

Dear Nabisco,
Our names are Kate Yonge, Maddy Mahmoud, Avery Emshwiller, and Mollie Richards and we
are freshmen at Austin High School in Austin, Texas. This semester in our geometry class, we were
assigned a packaging efficiency project where we used our knowledge of volume, surface area, and
density to redesign a package of our choice in order to reduce the amount of wasted packaging and to
pack the package environmentally-friendly. We worked together to find the most efficient way to
redesign one of the 6 cookie packages of Oreos. We chose this product because the packaging contains a
lot of unused airspace and uses a non-eco friendly packaging material. With the current packaging
material being a flexible, plastic covering, that is not recyclable, we thought this would be a great
opportunity to convert it to a recyclable packaging. Plastic is found polluting many areas around the
world and we thought a cardboard, smaller cylindrical shaped packaging would be more eco-friendly as
well as less wasteful to the environment.
We completed some tests to find the volume, surface area, and unused airspace to make our new
packaging design more efficient and less wasteful. From finding those measurements, we created our new
package that reduced the air space as well as the surface area of the package. The original packaging
contained excess plastic material on the edges that our new packaging eliminates. We found that using
cardboard for the package made the packaging thicker and recyclable. It is also an inexpensive material
that will make the company appeal to the consumer as being environmentally-friendly. Also, cardboard is
a cheaper material which will save your company a great amount of money.
One main reason that our changes will benefit your company is that the product is eco-friendly,
will not pollute our world and oceans and will attract many consumers who appreciate a recyclable
material. The original package had excess material on the edges and by creating a smaller, cardboard
package, the new package is smaller and more efficient. The surface area of the original packaging is 468
cm2 and our new surface area is 118.34 cm2 which is a difference of 349.66 cm2. The original volume was
174.38 cm³ and our new packaging has a volume of 159.04 cm³ which means we reduced the amount by
almost 16 cm³. This is a major amount of material that is being saved and the new material will be
cheaper for your company to manufacture and buy. Also, the original unused air space was 57.28% and
our new package reduces the unused airspace by 44.63% which may not seem like a whole lot, but it does
make a difference. Also, with only 6 cookies in the package, we made the design easy for a consumer to
take the product on the go. This package looks intriguing to the consumer because the new packaging is
small and looks like a great snack for the consumer to buy right off the shelf. This change would be worth
it because you are getting rid of the risk of having your packaging polluting our world today as well as
reducing the size of the package. Thank you for taking the time to read our letter and consider our
changes.

Sincerely,

Mollie Richard Avery Emshwiller Maddy Mahmoud Kate Yonge

Student Student Student Student
Austin High School Austin High School Austin High School Austin High School