It is great to see a surge of interest in reusable packaging in many different forms and faces; some very familiar and others, brand new. A few of the traditional containers include everything from drums, bins, trays and totes made from metal, plastic and even heavy wall corrugated configurations.

At Salazar Packaging and Globe Guard® Products, we offer some of the newest reusable packaging solutions that are available in the sustainable packaging market. These include:

Custom Globe Guard Corrugated Boxes

Many people have a difficult time thinking of corrugated boxes, especially 100% PCW boxes, as reusable but we are now engineering boxes for multiple use. Increasing the board weight from a standard 32 ECT to a single wall 44 ECT typically adds less that 10% to the cost but may enable the box to be reused many times depending on the application.

We are also able to apply different eco friendly coatings to the inside and outside of the container to help it extend its useful life by increasing its resistance to oils, moisture, etc. These same coatings also help the box to hold up better cosmetically, improving the possibility it will be reused without negatively impacting its biodegradability, compostability or recyclability.

Custom Globe Guard Reusable Boxes

If you have not seen the new patent pending Globe Guard® Reusable Box, it offers all of the above flexibility and advantages with one, additional, very unique feature of being able to easily provide two distinct looks with different printing on the inside and outside. When the box is inverted inside-out it not only provides a new life, the new look makes it easy to communicate a customized message with instructions, bar codes or other data, as well as routing or status information. (more…)

Everything today is being scrutinized for its impact on the environment and on each of us as human beings. The old adage of “you are what you eat” is proven true and in terms of cosmetics, people now realize your skin is indeed your largest organ and what you apply on the surface has a way of working its way inside.

I applaud this awakening and focus on external and internal health, and whether it is pure, organic, or simply just good for you and tasty, this is a very good thing. And in terms of a market, it is growing rapidly and growing skeptical even faster thanks to the prevalent green washing and outright deception we see in the market.

Eco Consistency Is Not Optional

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To all of our vendor friends who help us design and deliver the green packaging products our customers want and need.

To all of our shipping and logistics friends who help us get the products to our customers on time, at a reasonable cost and with minimal carbon footprint.

To all of our media friends and business associates who help us spread the green word through book, articles, cartoons and web sites.

But most of all to our customers and friends to who Earth Day is a way of life, not an annual event – Happy Earth Day and thank you!

It is increasingly difficult today to make a lasting positive impression on a customer considering all of the competition and options that are available. Companies spend a lot of money creating and image and brand and then promptly limit its use to a website, letter head and rarely read brochures.

Tag Lines and Slogans Matter

We do a lot of custom printed box and custom printed tape work and we have recently done a couple we would like to share with our readers. In both cases our customer has a tag line or slogan they are very proud of and has become part of their brand and image. Repeating it as often as possible and making it highly visible to their customers is an important part of their marketing strategy.

Great People…Great Service…Great Products.

CDI Corp is the largest manufacturer of collegiate decals and bumper stickers in the country. When you see the name of a college proudly on display on someone’s vehicle, it is a good bet that CDI made that decal. Their tag line is serves as a daily reminder to their people as well as their customers that CDI appreciates their business and is determined to keep it with continuous product design and by providing the best possible service.

Eco-friendly packaging and shipping with every gift…. now that’s caring

That’s Caring is our type of customer. They make beautiful gift baskets and they know packaging is important to their customers so they insist on using the greenest products possible. Just to make sure their customers see and appreciate their commitment and effort, they print their packaging slogan on the tape used to seal each and every box they ship out.

As I often like to remind people, secondary packaging is usually the first tangible contact an internet e-commerce store has with its customers. Branding the tape and boxes is one way to make sure that initial contact delivers an excellent and memorable first impression.

Call us for a free review of your branding opportunity.
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Visit the Globe Guard ® Green Packaging Store for -

Green Shipping Boxes
Eco Friendly Packaging Materials
Special Deals on Eco Friendly Shipping Supplies

For a company best known for our Globe Guard 100% PCW recycled content shipping boxes, we also try to provide our customers with as many sustainable packaging, shipping box alternatives because quite frankly, not everything being shipped requires a corrugated box.

Your Choice – Paper or Plastic Padded Mailers

Last July we launched our all plastic, bubble lined mailer envelopes that can be recycled as #4 waste anywhere poly bags can be recycled. That satisfied many of our customers but others prefer a non-plastic option for a variety reasons.

Our new Globe Guard Padded Paper Mailer is made of 100% recycled paper and the filling is actually post consumer waste because it is made of shredded newspaper. It provides plenty of cushioning for most items and can also be recycled at curbside with other types of paper waste. In other words, it is very likely to wind up as molded pulp, or even more paper padded mailers.

Paper Padded Mailer Features

The mailers have an easy peel adhesive strip so no tape is necessary to seal it and the adhesive used is all natural rubber. On the receiving end, your customers will appreciate the easy open tear strip that is located on the end of the mailer, not on the side or body. This makes it less likely to rupture the envelope, releasing the shredded paper padding, and it also makes it possible to re-use the mailer.

A large variety of sizes to choose from, including: (more…)

A Chicago area clothing retailer had a rather catchy slogan I used to appreciate – “An educated consumer is our best customer”. I believe I related to it as a lifelong student as well as teacher within the packaging industry. I’ve never stopped learning and I truly respect people who also share the same passion, to make good decisions based on study and research, rather than supposition or popular opinion.

We’re All in It Together

If you are a regular ISP reader you know how much I enjoy meeting and interviewing people who are making a difference in this world. I also truly like being on the opposite side of the interview and freely sharing green facts and opinions.

Recently a very smart lady named Mary Kearns, owner of Herban Lifestyle interviewed me for her blog. Mary is a fellow Green America member as well as a fellow 1% for the Planet contributor. She also happens to be a customer but that is never an interview requirement. Mary asked great questions and it turns out, is an excellent writer as well. You can read the interview here – How to Green Your Packing and Shipping. (more…)

Whether your company calls it closed loop recycling or reverse logistics, the fact is that some way, somehow, the task is to get a valuable resource back to where it can be reused. It is green, and it saves money.

The Globe Guard Reusable Box is a Tool to Make that Easier

Parts, components and a wide of variety of products are sent out into the world and in many cases are there for exchange, replacement or on loan. Think about cell phones, lap tops, electronic components, replacement parts and other items that are swapped out or returned for credit, etc.

The Globe Guard Reusable Box is constructed and designed to make the return trip at minimal material and labor cost. It also has the ability to eliminate the need for special marking and labeling because when the box is inverted inside-out, it can easily be pre-printed with any and all critical information, on both sides of the box. It’s great when the GGRB can be used to return a valuable resource back to where it is needed. (more…)

We believe we may have the widest assortment of eco friendly, sustainable packaging products on the internet. Whether the application is for cushioning and protection, to immobilize a product during shipment or to protect a surface, our Globe Guard line of products offers a sustainable packaging solution.

Sustainable Packaging Application Specialists

The reason we feel we have to have a wide variety of products is that almost every application is unique. Unfortunately, we have also discovered that many companies are really using the wrong product and/or are wasting money by not using the most economical product option, to get the job done.

I’m sure most would agree packaging Tiffany lamps in boxes for shipment on pallets via LTL common carrier truck is vastly different from shipping cast metal automotive parts via UPS or FedEx. Yet, in many cases users try to do both jobs with one and the same packaging product.

Another of several factors we consider before making a recommendation is the customer in terms of how many boxes are being packed and how they are being filled and sealed. Every void fill and cushioning product has advantages and disadvantages that make it right, or perhaps wrong, for a specific customer’s unique packaging operation. The product for a customer packing a dozen boxes a day is not likely to be the same we would recommend for someone packing two hundred boxes per day.

Sustainable Packaging Is Affordable

We have helped to make interior, protective packaging greener and more economical than ever and you, our eco minded customers are buying it. That enables us to buy better and offer these items at the lowest prices we have ever offered.

Globe Guard® Eco Flex – our incredibly unique and most versatile molded pulp product. It can be used for layering, wrapping, edge or corner protection and even as void fill. Now through April 30th, you can buy any quantity for only $7.50 per case.

Globe Guard® Bubble Packaging – it does what the other products do but is also oxo degradable. It is perforated every 12” for your easy use and convenience and is recyclable as well as biodegradable. Now through April 30th, any quantity order can be purchased for only $12.00 per case.

Globe Guard ®Eco Nest – our shredded corrugated product that does an exceptional job of protecting heavy and valuable products. Now through April 30th, you can buy any quantity for only $7.00 per case.

If none of these products is right for you and your application, please talk with us. We have a number of other stock and custom solutions ranging from corrugated partitions to inflatable product solutions. We are confident we can help you accomplish your objective with the greenest packaging products at the lowest possible cost.
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Visit the Globe Guard ® Green Packaging Store for -

Green Shipping Boxes
Eco Friendly Packaging Materials
Special Deals on Eco Friendly Shipping Supplies

Downsizing is not always a step backwards. In fact, for sustainability downsizing is a big plus. Minimizing the size of a shipping container also eliminates shipping weight, space required, the amount of void fill needed. Downsizing reduces the end waste and of course – it saves money as well.

Size Appropriate, Green Packaging

People often forget that REDUCE is one of the three R’s of sustainability. Using less makes sense for so many reasons but sometimes finding unusual size shipping containers can be a challenge. In the last few months we have added the following to our Globe Guard store

• Larger Shipping Boxes
• Shorter, Low Profile Shipping Boxes
• Longer, Taller Shipping Boxes

What may have gone unnoticed is that we have also been recently adding a terrific variety of very small containers for very small products.

The economy has forced many customers to order in smaller quantities but some shippers are still using the previous, large containers because smaller boxes and mailer envelopes can be very difficult to find, especially if you are looking for green packaging products.

Four New Products for Small Items Added to the Globe Guard Line

Globe Guard 4” X 8” Bubble Lined Poly Mailer. It is made with low density polyethylene inside and out. Unlike paper outside/poly bubble inside, our mailers can be recycled anywhere a plastic bag can be recycled whether it is at curbside or your local grocery store.

Globe Guard 5” X 10” Flat Paper Mailer Envelope – made out of 100% recycled content. Strong enough to be reusable and easily recycled when its work is done.

Globe Guard 7” X 3” X 2” Die Cut Corrugated Mailer. It is made out of our Globe Guard 100% recycled content board and features a front lock design so it is safe, secure and very strong, making it ideal for eye glasses and other fragile items.

Our new 4” Cube Box is the latest addition to our already excellent selection of cube shipping boxes which includes 5”, 6”, 8”, 9”, 10”, 12”, 13”, 14” 16”, 18” and 20” Just like all of our other stock Globe Guard boxes, our 4” cube is 100% PCW (post consumer waste) recycled content.

All of these products are stock products on our store but please remember, if you don’t see exactly what you need, let us know. We also specialize in custom size products of every type and can custom print just about anything we make.