(Note: this post written by Dennis Salazar also appeared on Nashville Wraps blog on July 6th, 2009)

Sustainable Packaging Creates Strange Bedfellows

I may be paraphrasing the old adage about politics but there is absolutely no politics involved in the decision for Nashville Wraps to offer Globe Guard, 100% recycled (PCW) content shipping boxes to their customers. It is really all about good customer service and making it easy for customers to order and receive what they want and need.

Two Different Companies with One, Almost Identical Objective

Most people and their own customers recognize Nashville Wraps as an innovator and leader in their market of decorative, retail and gift packaging. They long ago committed to making their products and company as green as possible and made news in the green and packaging communities with their Green Way® product line.

Our company, Salazar Packaging, Inc. has been working toward the same goal in our product area of green, eco friendly packaging products for secondary (shipping) purposes. We created and trademarked the Globe Guard® line of 100% PCW boxes and began promoting them in 2007. (more…)

With many prices rapidly escalating including almost everything remotely related to plastics, it is nice to be able to share some good news with you. We have dramatically reduced the price on our Globe Guard eco friendly paper labels PLUS are also offering a special discount of 10% for the months of July and August when you use promo code LABEL.

PCW Never Looked So Good (more…)

Though the above title may sound like yet another edition of the Star Wars series, this post is actually about the number of very good companies that are now producing “stock” molded pulp products. In the past the words stock and pulp were never used in the same sentence unless you were talking about egg cartons or soft drink carriers but the number of companies offering standard, “no tooling required” packaging solutions is growing quickly.

Eco Flex Molded Pulp and Beyond

Five weeks ago we launched this new green product which is very unique in that it is flexible molded pulp able to be bent, folded, rolled and easily hand torn to size, making it ideal for a multitude of packaging applications. We still love our new Eco Flex molded pulp product but we also realize that in some situations, an application specific form fitting molded product may be better for the customer and application.

Molded pulp in any shape or form is 100% recycled content, usually newspaper PCW and it is also “obviously” green. We believe the clarity of that green message is becoming more and more important and quite frankly, very few products fall into that category of being undisputedly green. There is often debate on almost any imaginable packaging product one could offer or use, but I have never heard two green minded individuals argue over the merits of molded pulp packaging.

Where’s the Adventure in Stock Molded Pulp Packaging

The adventure comes from a manufacturer guessing at what sizes customers could potentially want and making a substantial investment in a mold to create it. In all honestly, it is usually not as wild of a guess as it may appear because there may be a customer or two with ready business that take some of the risk out of the decision.

In many industries, there are indeed common or standard sizes that often repeat. In the glass jar and candle businesses for example, it is not at all unusual to see 1”, 2” 3” and 4” diameter candles and standard wine bottles tend to have the same shape and size. Tooling can also get very creative so that a single cavity may be able to accommodate various diameters of products.

How Does This Impact Your Green Packaging Efforts? (more…)

Globe Guard Products is pleased to announce our first ever and possibly only ever, 20% off sale.

20% is a very deep discount in the packaging distribution business but we are looking for new eco minded customers and we also realize everyone, like us, is trying to be consistently green, grow their business, and do this while reducing costs.

So, unlike large retailers that seem to have a monthly “best sale ever”, this may truly be a onetime (and week-long!) event.

• Green Packaging Supplies – Special Deal items are also 20% off!
• All stock Globe Guard 100% recycled (PCW) content boxes are 20% off
• Globe Guard paper and plastic carton sealing tapes are 20% off,  including custom printed paper tapes ordered through our web store!
• All Globe Guard recycled content packaging papers, including indented Kraft and tissue, are 20% off
• All Globe Guard 100% recycled labels are 20% off
• All Globe Guard recycled content paper envelope mailers are 20% off, and believe it or not,
• All packaging dispensers including paper cutters, stretch film, pressure sensitive plastic and water activated paper dispensers are 20% off.

And … First time Globe Guard cutomers who order next week will receive a special gift!

Globe Guard Sale Dates -

www.GlobeGuardProducts.com is 20% off starting Monday, April 20th at 8:00 AM, CST and ending Friday, April 24th, at 5:00 PM, CST.

Please use promo code EDAY for discount.
We are confident you will like our eco-friendly packaging products if you try them.

Happy Earth Day!

I realize I am negatively paraphrasing their marketing slogan but the change is quite appropriate after reviewing the packaging of an order they just shipped to us. As a customer, I admit I love Staples but as a provider of eco-friendly packaging products, and as a citizen of the earth, they are very disappointing.  I am sorry Staples, but picking and packing an order while utilizing sustainable packaging products and procedures, quite frankly, has never been easier.

Complainants Exhibit A and B

The photo above shows the three items we ordered whose combined volume is 582 square inches. The box they used was a 16” X 10.5” X12.25” high, which provides 2,058 square inches of packing space. Because the box was almost four times larger than it had to be, 600 (un-inflated) square inches of an inflatable void fill product had to be used to fill the oversized void.  Before you think this is just another story of a packer using the wrong box to fill an order, the green “wanna be” picture gets much worse for Staples. (more…)

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 really wish that was not the case but it is. I have written and spoken on this topic numerous times but a recent reader response on this blog from Neil Hunter in the UK has motivated me to address it once again.

I think we all hope that eventually there will be consistent and clear definitions, and terms like eco-friendly, sustainable, compostable, biodegradable will all mean the same thing to everyone. But that is not the case today or probably any time soon.


When in doubt, claim everything?

There are certain packaging product areas where green has an even greater amount of “gray” and that most definitely includes bio-plastics. Consider the variety of products and applications out there and you will see the obvious problem. To me “plastics” means packaging films for wrapping, shrinking and forming. To our reader Neil, plastics are about disposable cutlery. Can “standards” ever be the same for both of us? (more…)

We are very pleased to announce that our trademark application for Globe Guard has finally been approved so in the future we will be able to use the ® rather than the temporary ™. This is an important development because it signifies that products carrying the Globe Guard name have been carefully selected for their sustainable packaging characteristics.

Our vision for and commitment to the Globe Guard brand (more…)

In our efforts to help companies become more green, we often look for what we refer to as “low hanging sustainable packaging fruit”. That is those little, easy changes that can be implemented quickly with little or no investment required. In fact the sweetest fruit is that which results in immediate savings — and with the help of a good customer, we found a terrific area for immediate and easy green savings!

Slip sheets are those almost invisible layers of packaging material you usually find between a pallet and a product load or even in between layers of a product load. Many companies will add a second slip sheet to the top of the load, in case the pallet is double stacked. Slip sheets provide some level of abrasion protection and are used primarily to keep products clean. On certain types of product loads, they can even be used to eliminate or avoid a pallet altogether. Slip sheets can be made of plastic, paper board or corrugated. Regardless of material type, what they almost always have in common is that slip sheets are certain to wind up as waste, as soon as the load arrives at its destination.  (more…)

A big carbon footprint is an excellent reason to find a new inner packaging material, but not one that arouses passion in most of us. But $5 per gallon gasoline gets everyone’s juices flowing (no pun intended), and that’s another reason – perhaps the most compelling reason – why polystyrene packing peanuts are the wrong void fill material for 2008 and beyond.

Polystyrene packing peanuts are expensive to ship — in fact, considerably more expensive to ship than just about any alternative product on the market.

Peanuts are extremely bulky and lightweight, so freight carriers charge a premium to tote them around. I checked freights cost to ship 5 – 20 cubic foot bags, and the quotes ranged from $110 to $175. Whew! Freight surcharges are a healthy portion of the total, but those aren’t going away any time soon. Want to get a freight estimate for yourself? Use this Roadway freight calculator. Class is 250. Figure 4-5 lbs. per 20 cubic foot bag. You’ll be astounded. (more…)