Several months ago I wrote a post for Packaging Digest talking about the importance of being “eco obvious”. Consumers’ perspectives aren’t always fair or accurate; they don’t always read labels so utilizing products that are easily and quickly recognized as eco friendly is vitally important.

Eco Obvious Sustainable Packaging

Few products rate as high as molded pulp on the eco obvious scale. A consumer immediately recognizes it for what it is, which is recycled newspaper molded into a new and usable form. It is also easily recycled just about anywhere.

However, unless you can use a stock item that is mass produced such as trays for 4” round containers or wine bottles, most applications are custom and that usually requires high cost custom tooling. Even though the cost of most molded pulp products is fairly competitive, it is the initial mold and tooling costs that often times prevent packagers from utilizing this great product containment and protection option.

Low Cost Molded Pulp Tooling Option

We are glad to announce a new process created by one of our newest vendors that dramatically reduces the cost of molded pulp tooling. Read the rest of this entry »

What may sound like a story about intoxicated college students on Spring Break is really not that at all. It is about a paper and corrugated box industry that has just announced a second, substantial price increase in less than four months. It’s definitely not fun and the only “wild and craziness” involved here is an effort to try to keep up and minimize fast rising product costs, while many of our customers resist increases and are simply working hard to survive.

Are the Paper and Corrugated Increases Justified?

My personal opinion is no, they are probably not but then again who knows. As a non-manufacturing distributor of corrugated products, our largest competitor is but a flea in the overall market and scope of an industry that measure sales in terms of tons and billions of dollars. There is a lot of industry talk about expired government subsidies, a shoot out between two major mills with the rest of us as innocent bystanders caught in the cross fire and of course the ability of the industry to control pricing by controlling output and production.

The week of January 22nd Pulp & Paper reported an increase of $50 per ton on liner board and the end result was an increase on corrugated boxes that ranged from 6 to almost as much as 10% depending on the manufacturer. This most recent increase announced the week of April 23rd of $60 per ton, is likely have a similar impact in terms of increase percentage on box pricing. Read the rest of this entry »

Retail packaging can be attractive, unique and green – and we have helped many companies create packaging that is eye catching and eco friendly. For example, it’s not easy to stand out in a highly competitive market such as candles, where appearance is every bit as important as recycled content or recyclability, but we provide our customers with options and combinations that few other companies have to offer.

Green Packaging Must be Cost Competitive, Too

We understand that everyone has a price point they have to target depending on where and how they sell their product and of course, manufacturing costs, including ingredients. Packaging costs and appearance requirements differ greatly for products selling over the internet or at a green fair, versus products retailing at a high end boutique.

That is why we specialize in designing to the acceptable cost and will usually offer our design clients a variety of options, different looks and varying costs. Everyone’s needs are unique as is our custom retail, eco friendly packaging.

Wide Range of Solutions because of our Wide Range of Products

Most suppliers represent a manufacturer and have one type of product to offer. Corrugated box suppliers rarely sell paperboard (folding carton) packaging and the opposite is true as well. Neither is likely to offer a paper tube design, even if it happens to be the best option for the customer and application.

The benefit of working with a resource like us is that we are able to not only offer all substrate options, we can provide combinations of material that no one else will ever suggest. Different bases, bodies and lids can sometimes be used to minimize costs and create a truly unique package.

One Example of Unique Variety and Flexibility

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We are very fortunate to work with many new companies or companies with new products requiring green packaging. In many cases however the initial run is relatively short and when or if the job will ever run again is unknown. We also have a number of clients who do promotional type work who know their job is never going to repeat.

Biggest packaging hurdles and expenses – Plates, dies and set up costs

It is not unusual for a tooling and plate cost to run into thousands of dollars depending on the type of print, number of colors and the design of the package being run. That makes it cost prohibitive for many companies, so they resort to labels or other ways of branding their products. The end result often times puts them at a competitive disadvantage in terms of package appearance when consumers are comparing their product to others on the retail shelf or over the internet.

The other factor that comes into play is set up costs and that is what usually makes short runs so expensive. It is the combination of expensive plates, tooling and long set up times being amortized over smaller quantities. Keep in mind the set up time for two thousand printed shipping or retail display boxes is virtually the same as for a two million piece job. Unfortunately the end result is that the highest per unit prices are being paid by the companies who can least afford them.

Digital printing on almost any packaging substrate

Almost any grade or type of plastic or paper material can be digitally printed with virtually any copy and number of colors. Plastic substrates can include polyethylene, polypropylene and even foam board. Paper substrates can be any grade of paperboard or corrugated and they can be printed on white for sharper colors or on natural brown for a more muted effect and a greener end result. The image below shows the difference. While the poster version on the left is brighter, the softer tones on the right are very popular and desirable today for green products and consumers.

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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. Read the rest of this entry »

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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Green Shipping Boxes
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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: Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »