New! B2B Green Packaging Directory

Most will agree that there is an incredible proliferation of green products and suppliers on the internet and this is especially true in the area of green, eco-friendly packaging products. Sorting through the results on any key word product search is overwhelming because you have located thousands of potential suppliers but are they:

• Truly green?
• Cost Competitive?
• The best product option?
• Available with any form of knowledgeable support?

Find what you need while saving time and money!

With the help of a few, exceptional sustainability focused packaging companies; we are very pleased to announce the launch of a new website at www.greenpackaginggroup.com

Our partners and charter members in this new venture are Nashville Wraps, the leader in sustainable packaging for the gift and retail packaging market, Eco Bags, one of the oldest and greenest packaging companies in America, and Distant Village, a pioneer and leading supplier of socially responsible, eco friendly handmade, custom packaging. Add these companies and products to the custom packaging products of Salazar Packaging and the stock green packaging products offered by Globe Guard Products, and you have the widest variety of green products and solutions available through one internet site.

What you will find at www.greenpackaginggroup.com

What this site offers you as an eco minded professional buyer is:

• An easy to use product index to help you locate and connect with affordable and authentic green packaging suppliers able to help you accomplish your packaging sustainability goals.

• The start of a reference library of information in blog form, to guide you to the best product or process choice for your specific application. Each blog post is written by industry leaders able to provide you valuable “what to use and how to use it” advice for any business environment.

A Potentially Tremendous Resource and Work in Progress

Over time we will undoubtedly add additional products and other featured vendors as well. The blog reference library will grow and the additional green resources listed at the bottom of the home page will also expand to include a wide variety of green businesses and products. We are very pleased with our start but we also hope it is just the beginning.

The primary objective is to make this site grow so it can provide greater help to more companies seeking product and informational assistance. To that end, you can help us help others by using this site as a resource and assisting in its development by making product and supplier suggestions, as well as product and vendor critiques.

We believe in what we do but the ultimate judge is you, the business to business buyer with a real interest in helping to preserve and protect the environment by using environmentally responsible packaging products like we offer.

New! Eco Friendly, Waterproof Coolers

Another common scenario for a short term product is when you need a cooler for a short period of time. Keeping your beverages cold is a challenge but you want to avoid lugging around a large, heavy metal or plastic cooler and an EPS (better known as Styrofoam) cooler is out of the question. Perhaps you live or are traveling into an area that even prohibits them?

The Globe Guard Eco Friendly and Water Proof Cooler

Most moisture proof coatings manufacturers put on corrugated designs are petroleum based wax or plastic so the product cannot be recycled because it cannot be re-pulped into new corrugated boxes. The Globe Guard eco friendly cooler coating enables it to be re-pulped, recycled, and even composted. More importantly it is designed for multiple uses and easily folds flat for storage and re-use.

In addition, here are some other features and facts:

• Recyclable AND reusable!
• Large 14” X 11” X 14” size holds up to 15 quarts which is twenty-two 12 ounce cans with ice.
• Waterproof and leak proof
• Double coating (inside and out) provides thermal barrier to help keep contents cold
• Made in the USA and is patent pending
• Available with retail displays for wholesale customers
• Can be custom printed with your logo and copy for your group or event

On Sale at www.GlobeGuardProducts.com!

The price for this product will vary depending on the quantity ordered but until August 31st, it is on sale for as low as $3.99 each. Quantities of four coolers or less ship assembled and in a box. Five or more will ship flat for greatest shipping cost savings.

Call for information on order quantities in excess of forty coolers for special pricing or for details on our custom print or available POP’s for retail store display.

Green is indeed cool!


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Shrink Wrap Sealer and Tunnel

The Economic Indicator We Look At

I am glad to report we are having an excellent equipment month. We have multiple orders from multiple customers in different industries and that is extremely encouraging considering the spotty equipment sales we’ve experienced for almost two years. This is also significant because July is historically not a good month for equipment orders.

If you believe (and I have for over 35 years) that equipment sales always precede and drive material sales, this is one of the most encouraging economic signs we have seen in a while. We have been doing this too long to become giddy over one single good month of equipment sales but here are a few more positive signs to consider:

• Inquiries and RFQs for equipment are way up.
• Prices are going up and lead times are getting longer. Believe it or not, these are good signs because they indicate manufacturers are getting busy again.
• This week I received notices from two leading equipment manufacturers in search of people. They are looking for engineers, technicians, assemblers and other highly skilled positions.

Who’s Driving the Economic Recovery?

I think it is us. It is industry, distribution, manufacturers and every other resilient, hard working company that is investing and growing in spite of the economy and some misguided governmental policies. The administration bailed out the banks but the banks are doing little to help small to mid size businesses.

The only things growing thanks to the economic stimulus programs are public works construction, the size of the federal government itself and of course our national debt. Bail outs may have helped save the auto industry and that is a very good thing but the trickle down has not been nearly as beneficial as many hoped and it sure has not created the jobs that were promised.

Perhaps we finally became tired of waiting for someone to help us and we finally took control of our own destiny. Good for us and good for the people who will be making and using the equipment that is being sold today.

Autobagger from Automated Packaging

Arpac Stretch Wrapper

Green Shipping Boxes
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Complex Question with No Easy Answers

It is important to note that within this question there are various other questions that need to be asked and answered before anyone with an open mind can possibly respond accurately for any given application and customer.

Are we talking about post consumer recycled content or pre-consumer (post production) recycled content? That makes a huge difference and I think most people will agree recycling is always a good thing, but the closer it gets to the waste stream, the better. Diverting any product from the consumer to the landfill is the ideal solution in my mind but in many areas such as plastic, finding post consumer plastic waste that can be processed and re-manufactured efficiently can be challenging.

On any biodegradable product, one of the many questions that has to be asked is under what conditions is it biodegradable? There are many forms of biodegradability including oxo, hydro and thermal or a combination of all of the above. If we think about biodegradability as the last resort in sustainability, is it still able to be recycled? That is the primary problem I have with some green solutions is that they promote or require a specific process such industrial or municipal composting, but do not admit that few areas of this country have that capability and resource at this time.

Globe Guard Provides Multiple Green Packaging Alternatives

It is not always possible in all product areas but when the products are available we like to give our customers the option of what works best for them, their application and their immediate environment. We do not pretend to know it all and we understand that everyone’s needs are slightly different for any number of reasons. Pictured are two good examples of products being offered in both 100% recycled and 100% biodegradable composition:

Globe Guard Eco Friendly Bubble Packaging

Even though our oxo-biodegradable bubble packaging has been a big hit, we understand there are customers who prefer a recycled product. It is not yet a stock item but we do have a 100% recycled plastic product that will soon be available. When? It comes down to customer demand.

Globe Guard Eco Friendly Inflatable Void Fill Pillows

We stock and sell both our biodegradable version as well as our 100% recycled content formulation. Both are light weight and perform extremely well and are usually reused multiple times before they are ultimately recycled again.

In either grade, it is one of our favorite products because it is among the most economical void fill products available from a shipping inbound and outbound perspective.

Our Most Versatile Green Product?

No question – it is our Globe Guard 100% PCW shipping boxes. They are biodegradable, made of recycled content, can be recycled again and if no other option is available, you can even compost a Globe Guard box. Though we really hope you will reuse it once or twice before you do that.
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Visit the Globe Guard ® Green Packaging Store

Buy Green Shipping Boxes
Buy Eco Friendly Packaging Materials
Get Low Prices on Eco Friendly Shipping Supplies

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Eco Friendly Packaging Products Are Available and Affordable

Our company objective from the very beginning was to make eco friendly packaging products easy to find and competitive in price compared to standard, non-green products. It has not always been easy but with persistence, years of experience and a dash of innovation, we have managed to deliver a wide variety of green packaging products that are price competitive and environmentally responsible.

Three years later, some of our most popular products are:

• Globe Guard 100% recycled (PCW) content corrugated shipping boxes. Stock and custom sizes, plain Kraft and printed in just about any weight or style.

• Globe Guard Mailers ranging from corrugated die cut to paper, in padded and unpadded designs, as well as 100% bubble lined plastic mailers.

• Globe Guard stretch wrapping films for pallet wrapping and bundling. Available in high yield formulations and our new oxo-biodegradable version.

• Manual void fill and protective packaging including five different Globe Guard packaging papers, loose void fill products and our recently introduced Globe Guard oxo-biodegradable bubble packaging on rolls.

• Automated void fill options including void fill inflatable pillows in a 100% recycled content plastic and a biodegradable version too.

No Eco or Quality Compromise Necessary

Many customers are pleasantly surprised and relieved when they see our pricing on most of our green packaging products because they expect to pay more. After all, that is what they have heard and have come to believe. They are equally impressed when they see there is no sacrifice of quality or strength when using a material that is friendlier to the environment.

Sustainable packaging is indeed of high quality, readily available and affordable. We would appreciate the opportunity to prove it to you, the same way we have to some of the largest and greenest companies in America.
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Green Shipping Boxes
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Eco Friendly Packing Paper on Sale!

Bogus Paper is 100% Recycled Content

Few people know as well as we do that the only thing better than 100% recycled content is 100% post consumer waste, also known as 100% PCW or even 100% PCR. By anyone’s definition, bogus paper is extremely eco friendly and a great alternative for inner packing, interleaving, wrapping or any form of packaging. It’s 100% recycled content makes it flexible and soft and its distinctive gray color tells you no inks or dies were used in an attempt to make it more attractive or appealing to the eye. In other words it is about as natural a recycled paper as you can find.

Bogus Paper is 100% Economical

The most popular weight of gray bogus is 50# and when compared on a weight/yield basis to most 40# Kraft rolls or any 60# indented Kraft rolls, gray bogus paper it is an extremely good value at regular price and much more so for the month of July on GlobeGuardProducts.com. A 24” wide roll with 720’ of paper on the roll is on sale in any quantity for only $23.54 per roll. That is a lot of paper able to fill a lot of boxes and deliver products scratch free and in one piece.

The Source for Green Packaging Solutions

We are very proud that our Web store probably has the widest variety of protective and interior packaging options as anyplace you will find on the internet. Including gray bogus paper we have five different paper products, molded pulp, shredded corrugated, and even green oxo-biodegradable bubble packaging.
What you will not find on our site is EPS type foams, or any form of packing peanut whether it is a biodegradable version or not. There are just too many greener and effective alternatives to those two products, for us to include them on our eco focused site.

If your volume is substantial and none of the options above are right for you, we offer several high speed void fill solutions including 100% recycled content and 100% biodegradable inflatable air pillows. We also are quite capable of designing custom inserts and partitions for applications when they are the best and greenest option.

Give us a call. We’ll help you determine what is best for you and your product with a no cost, no obligation review of your unique application.
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Visit the Globe Guard ® Green Packaging Store for -

Green Shipping Boxes
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New Eco Friendly Corrugated Mailer

GG-M1493, 14.5” X 9.5” X 3” Globe Guard Die Cut Mailer

A lady in California makes a high quality green product and was eager to ship it in something other than a plain RSC style corrugated shipping box. She asked for more of a “presentation” box and we designed one that fits her products like a glove. She was thrilled with the sample we provided because it shows off and protects better compared to other options.

GG-39, Globe Guard 13” X 13” X 6” RSC style shipping box

We stock a 13” x 13” x 13” high box but sometimes too much of a good thing is not good and definitely not green. The taller box fit a customer’s product well but she only needed a box half as tall for smaller orders. The solution was this new 13 X 13 X 6” high shipping box and convincing us to add it to our stock list was the easiest part.

GG-38, Globe Guard 9” X 6” X 2” RSC style shipping box

A customer in Maine sells beautiful jewelry and was in search of a low profile box that was NOT a die cut mailer. The ideal size for her was 9×6x2 and we decided the size would fit well into our low profile shipping box assortment. We combined our orders and we both benefitted from the longer box run.

GG-7, Globe Guard 7” X 7” X 7” RSC style shipping box

A customer pointed out that we had just about every cube box possible except for the 7” cube he needed. We agreed it was an oversight and immediately added it to stock, once again reducing his cost with the larger box quantity.

It would be incorrect to say we are “willing” to add new box sizes to our lineup. The fact is that we not only encourage it, we actually look for good excuses to do so. If you want or need a green box but you don’t see what you need on our green packaging store web site, PLEASE let us know. You may the customer that helps us to add an item that others will also appreciate and buy.

New Eco Friendly Shipping Boxes

Green Shipping Boxes
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The Globe Guard Reusable Box

Ideal for Banners

What all of these have in common is that they are temporary and unfortunately, usually discarded after their brief use. That is a tremendous waste of resources, including ink and substrate such as paper, plastic or even canvas.

The Good Green News

What is most encouraging is the fact that retail operations and printers are beginning to see this unnecessary waste and avoidable expense. The focus is shifting to “washable” inks and reusable substrates so that the same sign, banner or poster material can be used over and over with no deterioration of image quality. Neat stuff! Especially if your retail marketing plan includes a quarterly “Going Out of Business Sale” and you like a new look for each “Once in a Lifetime” event.

How the Globe Guard Reusable Box Can Help

Reclaiming and reusing that banner or sign is not difficult if you have a store or two. But what if your sale or promotion includes 2,300 retail locations scattered around the country? Think about all of the waste and cost that creates, as well as the potential confusion if they were returned to a reclaim or reverse logistics facility?

If a Globe Guard Reusable Box is used to ship the summer promotion banners out to each location, the GGRB can easily be inverted inside out, and the same box used to return the spring promotion banners to the printer. The printer washes the substrate and perhaps uses the same materials to print the fall promotion marketing message.

The GGRB is unique in that it features that dual look capability so perhaps it can be printed with a message that signals it as a return, ready for processing. This speeds up processing and reduces costs. After all, it is great to be able to do the right thing for the environment but it is also nice to save money in the process.

Is the Globe Guard Reusable Box the best solution for you? Perhaps a standard or medium duty Globe Guard box is all that is needed? Or maybe you see the advantage of using the box many times over and a reusable plastic box is the best option? Please see our previous blog post on this topic and give us a call for a free application analysis.
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Visit the Globe Guard ® Green Packaging Store for -

Green Shipping Boxes
Eco Friendly Packaging Materials
Discounts on Eco Friendly Shipping Supplies

Learn more about the Globe Guard ® Resusable Box

Custom Bubble Packaging on Demand!

Saving the planet is obviously good but sometimes reducing packaging costs can be the difference between profit and loss. Saving time may also prove to be the difference between meeting an important customer deadline or disappointing them.

Converting Bubble Packaging on an “As Needed” Basis

As many different sheets and bubble sizes as we have available, there are times when a flat sheet of bubble is NOT the best packaging option. Sheets can lead to wasted material and manual wrapping can be costly in terms of labor.

With the use of a compact and inexpensive bar sealer a sheet of bubble packaging can be easily converted into a sleeve, open end pouch, pouch with a closing flap, or even a full enclosure. While our bubble packaging is tinted green to make its biodegradability obvious, most users don’t realize how easily it can be sealed into just about any form or shape for easy and quick packaging use.

Envision creating a sleeve that you can easily slip over a bottle or tubular shaped product. Or making pouches of almost any size to fit your variety of product sizes. Now imagine being able to save substantial time and money with all of the wrapping, cutting and taping that can be reduced if your bubble packaging conformed to your product like a well fitting, protective glove.

Converted Bubble Packaging for Larger Volume Applications

Certainly labor is consumed when you “convert our own” bubble packaging sheets into bubble bags, sleeves or pouches. Yet, if the number and variety of sizes and shapes is substantial but the volume of each is low, self converting may be the best option.

However, there are situations when that is not practical or the best use of time. The lowest overall cost may result from buying pre-converted bubble packaging. You completely eliminate the converting labor required, do not need to purchase equipment and you can focus your precious labor on other revenue producing activities.

Is converting your own bubble packaging right for you? Is buying premade bubble bags, bubble pouches or bubble sleeves the most cost effective solution? Allow us to evaluate the application and help you determine which is best for your specific products, application and usage.
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Visit the Globe Guard ® Green Packaging Store for -

Green Shipping Boxes
Eco Friendly Packaging Materials
Discounts on Eco Friendly Shipping Supplies

Learn more about the Globe Guard ® Resusable Box

New! Eco Friendly Stock Boxes for Printers

Green is a Never Ending Continuous Improvement Project

The fact is that the graphic arts industry has been one of the greenest packagers for as long as I can recall. For example, while most companies shifted from plastic to paper tape for reasons of convenience, printers new that their heavy boxes filled with valuable printed materials, were much more secure when sealed with water activated paper tape. They also led the way with paper void fill products that traditionally have been made with 100% recycled content.

Unfortunately, the one area where most printers have been lacking is the most obvious one and that is the shipping boxes they use. They use some unusual sizes and historically, no one has ever produced and stocked green boxes in standard printers’ sizes. That is, until now.

Globe Guard Products Now Stocks 4 New Box Sizes for Printers

Our 100% Globe Guard boxes are now available in the following sizes:

• GG11 – 11.25” X 8.75” X 6” high, 32 C Kraft, Plain RSC shipping box
• GG44 – 11.75” X 8.75” X 4.75” high, 32 C Kraft, Plain RSC shipping box
• GG45 – 11.75 x 8.75 x 8.75” high, 32 C Kraft, Plain RSC shipping box
• GG46 – 17.25 x 11.25 x 8” high, 32 C Kraft, Plain RSC shipping box

These four printer sizes like all Globe Guard RSC style shipping boxes are printed on the bottom with the “Globe Guard 100% recycled (PCW) content” logo informing your green minded customers that you use a green box, by choice.

Globe Guard Boxes and More!

Of course we also carry a full supply of water activated paper tape, paper void fill such as Kraft, bogus, newsprint and indented and now even oxo-biodegradable stretch film for printed products shipping on pallets. You’ll also find a wide assortment of corrugated mailer designs, as well as padded and unpadded plastic, and paper mailer envelopes.

Branded, custom printed boxes and tape are our specialty, so don’t hesitate to ask us about those products too. Remember, if you don’t see the size you need, let us know and it may become our next new stock box size.
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Visit the Globe Guard ® Green Packaging Store for -

Green Shipping Boxes
Eco Friendly Packaging Materials
Discounts on Eco Friendly Shipping Supplies

Learn more about the Globe Guard ® Resusable Box