Our Sustainable Shipping Boxes and Recycled Mailers Are Now More Sustainable

Continuous improvement is a well worn phrase that means a lot of different things to different people. Even though the packaging industry is launching brand new green products on an almost daily basis, this post is more about redesign and enhancement of existing products, rather than new product innovation.

Here are two perfect examples of manufacturing taking a good, green product and making it better and greener.

Globe Guard 100% PCW Corrugated Board

Our manufacturer is not eager to share details but the structure of our board has been “re-arranged” to provide a stronger and thicker outer sheet to our boxes and less “wash boarding”. Not to be confused with Dick Cheney’s favorite past time, water boarding, wash boarding is when the vertical fluting on board is visible through the outer liner sheet.

Keep in mind that our 32 ECT board is still 32 ECT so there was no weakness being addressed or strength gained. This is an improvement made to provide a little more outward/in puncture resistance and for cosmetic reasons. Our boxes look better for a longer period of time and possibly improve the possibility of them being re-used. Re use is good and this is a significant green improvement to what was already an excellent, industry leading product.
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Back on March 26th we published an article on this blog talking about sustainable packaging dead ends. In it I described a personal pet peeve which is single use products that are destined to end up in a land fill. It only adds salt to the sustainable wound for me when the manufacturer leads customers to believe that they are doing a good, green thing.

An Imperfect Sustainable Packaging Example – Cushioned Mailers

We have all used them at one time or another but cushioned (foam or bubble) lined paper mailers feature two excellent materials. Unfortunately they are laminated together and cannot be separated for easy sorting and recycling. Since the outer layer is paper, they are likely to hold up for only one trip through USPS, FedEx, or UPS so it is usually a prompt and short trip to your local land fill. Think about the millions of these that are used for home or office and you can see how easily the problem is compounded.

A Near Perfect Sustainable Packaging Solution – Globe Guard 100% Recyclable (Plastic) Cushioned Mailers

Before the anti-plastic people get all worked up, please keep in mind that on sustainable, green packaging, it is not always about bad versus good. Sometimes the decision is not all that simple and the choice is between very bad and perhaps, not so bad. Or in this case between completely unrecyclable and easily recyclable.

I know I would likely be escorted out of some green gatherings for using the C word (compromise) but that is the reality of current eco friendly packaging options. The key is to know what you are using in terms of content and how or if it satisfies the sustainability requirements of reuse, recycle and reduce.

What Makes These Plastic Cushioned Mailers Green (more…)

They are known by many names including literature mailers, tuck and fold mailers, shipper boxes and even pizza boxes, but the corrugated die cut mailer is making a big comeback and guess what? It is greener and no longer white.

What Makes These Corrugated Mailers Greener?

In the past, virgin board was used to make these versatile shipping and storage containers but today we are making them out of recycled corrugated materials. More importantly they are being made out of 100% recycled material which means they cannot be white on the outside. Many people don’t realize it but when you give a box a white exterior, that outer layer (usually 1/3 of the overall board content) has to be virgin. If you want it white on the inside too, then 2/3 of the corrugated content must be made from virgin fibers. Remember our motto, a virgin fiber is a terrible thing to waste, especially when it is not necessary.

Why Have Die Cut Mailers Been Historically White

The theory was that they looked better, cleaner, nicer, etc. There is no argument about that when the product is shipped … but have you ever seen one of those mailers when it arrives at its intended destination? Whether is ships via FedEx, UPS or USPS, the mailer no longer looks pristine or white upon arrival. Typically it is dirty, scuffed and even covered with fingerprints. The white outer layer looks great when it is shipped but the appearance rapidly degenerates as soon as it leaves the shipper’s facility.

What Makes These Corrugated Mailers Better? (more…)