In principle, use of any materials involves an environmental cost. Some packaging materials use a lot of natural resources and energy to produce. The journey taken by packaging from raw material to manufacturing and then to the initial user also incurs a ' carbon footprint ' . The weight of packag-ing contributes to the fuel usage of vehicles while the volume used can add up to additional jour-neys or the use of larger vehicles. Finally, the reuse, return, disposal or recycling will also involve additional to the environmental cost.

In this question:

- ' Purchase the packaging materials in bulk ' may incur additional fuel and carbon footprint in delivering these materials

- ' Try to reduce the costs of packaging ' may prompt the organisation to use less eco-friendly and cheap materials like polystyrene chips

- ' Not use the packaging materials at all ' can increase the environmental performance of packag-ing activities, but it also harms the products to be delivered and may cause other environmental problems (i.e. spillage of toxic chemicals into the environment)

So the correct answer should be: ' Adopt international environmental packaging standards ' . The International Standards Organisation (ISO) has published several standards regarding packaging and environment, namely ISO 18601, ISO 18602, ISO 18603, ISO 18604, ISO 18605, ISO 18606.

[Reference: CIPS study guide page 67-70, LO 1, AC 1.3, ]