Over the years I have been fortunate to meet many interesting people in packaging and sustainability but few are as unique as Rich Cohen and his company, Distant Village Packaging. Rich’s passion and commitment are infectious and we had no trouble convincing Rich to share his extraordinary story with our readers.

DS: Rich, for the benefit of our readers can you give us a brief overview of what Distant Village Packaging does.

RC: We create Handmade Packaging using sustainable and exotic materials such as tree-free papers, cacao leaves, and coconut buttons. However, by far, the most critical success factor in our work is close creative design collaboration with brand owners to produce packaging designs that reinforce the exact brand experience they desire.

DS: Please give us an idea of some of your most popular products and the industries or markets you serve.

RC: Distant Village packaging is extremely sustainable and highly attractive, ideal for gift giving. For example, bath and body gift sets, jewelry boxes, fine artisan chocolates, organic baby clothes, and most every industry which desires an impressive handmade packaging experience. (more…)

From Eco Ed and everyone at Salazar Packaging

Merry Christmas!

(Cartoon by Dennis Salazar and Brad Shorr, from the December 2008 issue of Packaging World magazine.)

As a marketing specialist, I myself find it strange that at the same time we’re promoting Globe Guard 100% PCW content corrugated boxes, we’re writing post upon post telling people how to use less corrugated or no corrugated at all.

Well, we definitely want to sell Globe Guard boxes. Being made from 100% post-consumer waste, they are the ultimate in sustainability from a materials standpoint. But at the same time, our experience in packaging tells us this -

The biggest cost saving AND the best environmental consequences come from using less corrugated material in your operation.

That’s why we openly encourage corrugated users to use less corrugated, and offer suggestions about how to do it.

But the real mystery is this. Why do so many customers fixate on the purchase price of their boxes, when changing their box requirements will produce far greater savings? A couple reasons come to mind. (more…)

I recently had another “Madonna Experience”, with a potential customer who hesitated to make what he thought was the quantum leap from his current corrugated boxes, ALL the way to our Globe Guard 100% PCW recycled content corrugated boxes.

Those conversations always make me think of the pop singer’s infamous hit, “Like a Virgin” because the customer was convinced his current supplier was delivering boxes made of pure, new tree fiber. Not likely. Not even possible.

The Truth about Corrugated Board (more…)

Both materials can be excellent eco-friendly packaging. Paperboard packaging is what you see on a FedEx or USPS style flat mailer envelope, or a typical cereal box. By comparison corrugated board has fluting and is what a standard brown box is made of.

The line used to be fairly clear – paperboard was used for primary/retail/display packaging and corrugated was used strictly for secondary packaging such as for shipping boxes simply expected to get products from point A to point B.

As paperboard has become thicker, while corrugated has grown thinner, and both materials are engineered better and more visually appealing, you now see paperboard being used often for shipping purposes such as in mailers, tubes and other structures. There is also growing trend to use corrugated for retail packaging for its “greener look” (see image below). (more…)

Image via Wikipedia

The world of packaging is changing very rapidly and what was not green a year ago may be very sustainable today. A recent customer project has motivated me to do some research in an effort to update my knowledge base in this rarely used but usually fairly effective and efficient form of packaging.

What is cohesive packaging?

Unlike an adhesive product that is designed to stick to everything, cohesive material will only stick to itself. Most often a product is “sandwiched” between two layers of the cohesive material forming a fairly secure seal around the perimeter of the product but not sticking to the product. Most often this method of packaging is used to ship books, CDs, DVDs and other relatively flat products through the mail stream. (more…)

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Some fear that a rotten economy will spoil the green packaging movement. The thinking goes, if people must choose between saving the world and saving their business, they’ll save their business. That’s true. However, the underlying assumption there is that green packaging is more expensive and therefore bad for business. That assumption is incorrect. Green packaging is (or should be) less expensive, and therefore more valuable than ever in times of economic hardship.

It’s important to distinguish between a packaging product’s purchase cost and cost in use. Some green packaging carries a higher purchase cost than the non-green alternative, and some green packaging doesn’t. Recycled packaging papers are less expensive than virgin equivalents. Recycled plastic materials can go either way, but are generally lower priced.

What’s more significant is the cost in use of green packaging. A green packaging strategy (and it’s important to think about packaging as a whole, not look at packaging components individually) should reduce overall cost – (more…)

If you look at the label on the pictured Dole product, you see that it is “natural”. I doubt any of us really understand what natural means anymore, but at least in theory, it’s a good thing, right? Shoppers everywhere just like my wife seek and buy products that are organic, pure and natural, even if the cost is a bit higher than those less healthy product options.

I used to think these Dole peaches were delicious but I forever unintentionally ruined the taste by taking a closer look at the package and label. Near the top of the container you see ink jet characters that read “peaches from USA”. (Click on the thumbnail at right for a look.) I can only assume that is imprinted that way to give Dole some seasonal flexibility on where their peaches are grown and harvested. OK, I can buy that but at the bottom of the plastic jar you see that the shrink band label is printed ”Packed in Thailand.” (more…)