To Whom It May Concern, April 26,

2017

Our names are Skye Slaughter, Katherine Falk, and Sarah Fatheree and we are students at
Austin High School in Austin, Texas. In our freshman geometry class, were doing a project in
which we are to choose a product and change the packaging to be more ecologically friendly and
efficient without impacting the size of the actual product. We chose your general purpose
Command Strips due to to the unusual shape of the packaging and the extra plastic that is
unnecessary in the packing of the Command Strips.

To ensure that we found accurate answers, we tested and measured all dimensions and
numbers multiple times. We found the volume of the plastic hook by submerging it in an
overflow pitcher and measuring the amount of displaced water. We averaged the the results of
each test and calculated that each individual plastic hook had a volume of 32.8125 cm3 which
means that all 6 hooks had a combined volume of 196.875 cm3. Next we found the volume of the
12 foam strips using basic geometric formulas. We found the volume for all 12 strips to be 11.86
cm3. We used water to find that the total airspace of the package to be 383.375 cm3. With the
total volume of the product being 208.735 cm3, 45.5 percent of the air space goes unused. While
the unusual shape of the plastic hooks makes it difficult to reduce the unused air space, our new
package reduces the unused air space by 15.3 percent.

Through trial and error, we managed to create a new package that uses 38.107 cm2 less
material. Our new package also uses 15.3 percent less air space. As ecologically conscious
citizens, reducing the amount of material on the packages of products we buy is something very
important to us. We enjoyed the fact that your packaging was reusable but we would like to
suggest that you use cardboard or stiff paper in the future in order to be more ecologically
friendly. After surveying some of our peers, we concluded that our new box shaped package was
more aesthetically pleasing to potential consumers. The box shape also made the product
reusable and easy to stack on shelves in stores, which would be beneficial for the stores stocking
your product. We are enclosing pictures of our new packaging and would welcome any question,
comments, or suggestions. You can reach us at kefalk02@gamil.com or 2801 Mountain Laurel
Drive, Austin, Tx 78703. We look forward to hearing your input. Thank you for your
consideration.

Sincerely,

Sarah Fatheree Katherine Falk Skye Slaughter



Student Student Student