Celebrate Our One Year Anniversary with 20 Percent Off All Items!

Almost one year ago, on March 18, 2009 we launched our new web site as the first green packaging store on the internet. With no existing customer base to rely on, we were convinced if we offered good quality eco friendly packaging products at a competitive price, most people would do the right thing for the environment. Gratefully, you have.

So for the entire month of March, with a $50 minimum order, any customer using promo code ONEYEAR will receive a 20% discount on all stock products on our e-commerce site. It is our way of saying thank you to the customers who have helped to make our dream, a reality.

How the Globe Guard Green Packaging Product Line Has Grown

What began as eight RSC shipping box sizes has developed into thirty-five sizes that include a wide assortment of cube boxes, long boxes and low profile boxes. Most of these additions were suggested by you, the customers who eagerly sought environmentally responsible packaging products.

In addition we are growing our list of corrugated specialty and die cut sizes to include book fold boxes, tuck mailers and front lock mailers. We create custom inserts, dividers and partitions for our stock product and can easily design a custom shipping box for the most unique and challenging applications.

Leaders in Eco Friendly Void Fill Products

We may have the widest variety of green inner packaging solutions on the internet to protect products during shipment. Our options include -

• Globe Guard Oxo-Biodegradable bubble packaging
• Globe Guard packaging papers in many grades and widths
• Globe Guard Eco Nest – a shredded corrugated loose fill product
• Globe Guard Eco Flex – an incredibly versatile molded pulp product
• Globe Guard inflatable air pillows

If these don’t do the job, we have other products available including custom corrugated and paperboard solutions.

A Lot More than Just the Best Eco Friendly Shipping Boxes

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Creating a High Profile in Low Profile Packaging

It’s no secret we spend considerable time developing and promoting our Globe Guard brand of sustainable, eco friendly packaging products. We realize one of the best ways we can accomplish our objectives is to continuously enhance its value to our customers by helping them get their packaging done in as environmentally responsible a way as possible.

Four New Boxes Added to the Globe Guard Green Packaging Web Store

We are pleased to announce the addition of the following to our Globe Guard 100% PCW, recycled content, box sizes.

• 8” X 6” X 6” RSC style, 32 ECT shipping box
• 9” X 5” X 5” RSC style, 32 ECT shipping box
• 14” X 12” X 6” RSC style, 32 ECT shipping box
• 20” X 14” X 4” RSC style, 32 ECT shipping box

We realize not everyone needs a tall or cube box so when you add these four new sizes to the variety of sizes we already have, we are confident we can fit most products and applications with the right box for the job.

Current box sizes include: 8” X 6” X 3” tall, 9” X 8” X 4” tall, 10” X 10” X 5” tall, 12” X 9” X 4” tall, and 12” X 10” X 6” tall.

Need a Unique Eco Friendly Box for a Unique Eco Friendly Product?

Regular readers may tire of hearing this but I hope they understand we draw new readers constantly who may not have heard this before: over 50% of the boxes we sell are custom size, custom grade and/or custom printed. Unlike many internet packaging suppliers, we understand and can help customers design custom packaging for their unusually shaped or configured products. We are also experts at combining a wide variety of substrates and products to -

• Minimize cost
• Maximize recyclability
• Minimize packaging waste by weight and volume
• Maximize reusability
• Minimize the negative impact on the environment

Let us know what your toughest most difficult challenge is and we will likely help you develop a low cost, green solution.
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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

See our revolutionary, patent pending Globe Guard® Reusable Shipping Box!

The world of the internet is a complicated one and it is relatively easy to wind up lost among the incredible amount of information that is now available to anyone with a PC, laptop or cell phone. Of course the objective is to be found by people looking for what you do and offer, but you also have to help them quickly or it is off to the next name resulting from their Google or other search.

A Sustainable Packaging “Fork in the Road”

We have launched a new web site, www.recycledpackaging.com, and its purpose is really quite simple. It serves only to help visitors determine which of our business web sites (www.salazarpackaging.com or www.globeguardproducts.com) is mostly likely to offer the solutions to their packaging challenges. Potential customers can easily determine if stock eco friendly packaging products are what they need or if their application demands a custom solution. We certainly appreciate and welcome all new visitors to both of our sites but for new potential customers in a hurry, we think this option will enable them to more quickly find what they are looking for.

Stock versus Custom Eco Friendly Packaging

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A recent conversation with a potential customer reminded me that three out of my last six blog posts have been about some form of interior packaging. We really are proud of the wide selection we have to offer our customers but we also understand that sometimes too many choices can lead to confusion or worse yet, misapplication.

The Product and Application Determine the Best Protective Packaging Solution

We offer so many options because every product and customer can be unique. Are we shipping organic chocolate via USPS or bottles of fish oil via FedEx? Are we shipping two or two hundred cases per day? Even two companies making the same or similar product may be best served by different void fill products. Here is a partial list of our products:

• Globe Guard Packing Papers – everything from lightweight tissue sheets to rolls of 60# indented industrial Kraft and everything in-between including newsprint and gray bogus. All recycled and each with different protective properties.
• Globe Guard Oxo Degradable Bubble Packaging – available in stock in 12” wide rolls perforated every 12” for easy dispensing and use.
• Globe Guard Eco Nest ™ loose fill– a shredded corrugated product that delivers amazing support and protection, especially for heavy products.
• Globe Guard Eco Flex Molded Pulp ™ – an “eco obvious” product that is surprisingly versatile and can be used for void fill but performs best when used for cushioning and blocking.
• Globe Guard 100% recycled plastic and Automated Packaging biodegradable inflatable air pillows – lightweight, clean, easy to use and very economical to ship inbound and outbound.
• Expandos – a very impressive paper loose fill option that we recently added to our line that makes unique paperboard pyramids on site and on demand.
• Paperboard and corrugated die cut inserts – sometimes the best option for retention and protection.
• Paperboard and corrugated partitions – nothing separates products and prevents surface to surface abrasion like a well designed partition.

Stock and Custom Packaging Solutions

Many of these products are available in a stock size or format on our web store but over half of the products we sell are customer specific. So, just because you don’t see it, please don’t assume it is not available.

Our staff has over fifty years of combined packaging experience so we are eager to discuss your specific requirements. In many cases we will be able to mock up a package with the recommended packaging and ship it back to you for evaluation.
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Visit the Globe Guard ® Green Packaging Store for -

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

We are always looking for ways to help our customers reduce or minimize cost and recently we had two situations where we literally had to think inside as well as outside the box in order to get the job done.

New Products and Unique Packaging

Sometimes the challenge is how to economically create custom packaging for a new and unique product and not break the bank doing it. In other words, protecting a product during shipment and making it affordable, even when the volume is relatively small. One way to do it is to combine stock and custom products rather than working with all custom items and eliminating some or the entire cost of dies and tooling.

Here are two recent examples:

Custom partitions and pads with stock RSC shipping boxes

Pente5 is a fast growing manufacturer of organic extracts which are all packed in glass bottles. They needed to create a four pack shipper case as well as a six pack shipper case for a new product launch.

We had no choice but to create custom pads and partitions for them but we intentionally designed them to fit two of our stock boxes. The finished product turned out great and we were able to avoid a higher cost custom box. This also minimized the amount of inventory they would have to buy and stock for their new product. (more…)

My wife, Lenora, and I are fast approaching our third anniversary as entrepreneurs. During the Christmas break we reflected back on how far we have come, not only measured in sales numbers but just as importantly, in terms of friends.

Sure there are headaches and disappointments in owning and operating your own business, but we have also enjoyed the privilege and extreme pleasure of working with some pretty incredible people. We agreed our favorite part of the experience is being able to help create and share some unforgettable Green Moments.

What Are Green Moments?

Green Moments: When a committed green minded individual realizes they can have what they want and that is usually a packaging solution that is as green as the products they are promoting. We call it eco-consistency but our customers usually call it, “problem solved”.

Here are some great examples.

• The lady in Maryland who realized she could have her boxes printed with her very attractive logo and it would NOT cost her an arm and a leg to do so.

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We have been busy growing our stock die cut mailer inventory to give customers as many choices as possible. Most of the die cut mailers people buy from us are plain, unprinted but made from our 100% recycled content board to provide the greenest box possible at the lowest possible cost. Then you meet a company like the good people at Fluenz.

Green Is Good in Any Language

CASE STUDY. Fluenz is an environmentally conscious company that specializes in best of class software designed to teach languages to their clients and customers. When they needed an attractive but eco friendly shipper box for their first class product, they turned to us at Salazar Packaging. We assisted with the design and sizing as well as the art work placement and the end result is a beautiful two color print, on our 100% recycled Globe Guard board.

Sustainability and Branding

“Eco consistency and your quality message begin at the door” is our way of rephrasing the old adage about only having one opportunity to make a good first impression. In most cases the package being received by your customer is the very first tangible contact they have with you and your company. They were obviously impressed by your web site design and marketing and they ordered your product. However the package that arrives at their home or office is the first time they actually get to experience touch and feel, and that always leaves a lasting impression.

Perhaps you believe that your product arriving in a traditional, beat up, brown box does NOT necessarily send a negative message. Even if I agreed, and I obviously don’t, I would say that you have however missed a great and unique opportunity to say something positive about you, your product or your company.

Smart Green Companies Believe in Branding and They Utilize Smart Green Packaging to Accomplish It

The people at Fluenz understand this and the end result is a great looking, beautifully branded box that wows at the door and makes a positive and permanent first impression. The best part about it is that the additional cost compared to a plain brown box was relatively insignificant. Ink is not expensive and any print job really stands out when the second color is added.

Green branding is what we do and we encourage you to get creative and as they say, “think outside the box”. Please contact us for a no cost, no obligation review of your application and requirements.

Earlier this year, January 13th to be exact, I posted an article complaining about some very eco unfriendly secondary packaging I had received from one of our favorite suppliers, Staples.

Large retailers often appear to be leading the green charge so the interest level they create is usually high and this was no exception. The post was soon picked up by Green Biz and other eco focused blogs and I even contacted them on at least two occasions and offered my services at no cost so I could help them determine where Staples’ in house fulfillment “eco system” is obviously broken.

I was told they were “working on it,” so as a loyal customer concerned about their secondary packaging as well as the environment, I waited, and waited until this week when we received delivery of an order we placed for two boxes of ink cartridges.

Staples Green Update – More Green Packaging Problems

The photo above show the two boxes of Canon ink cartridges which shipped from two different Staples facilities. I appreciate the fact that the order was split-shipped to be filled quickly but I find I hard to believe that neither facility had both items. I am not sure what type of carbon footprint that creates but the worse news is that each facility used a different way of packaging the product and neither passed the green test as far as we are concerned. The term one step forward and two steps backwards comes to mind when we compare it to the packaging described in our January blog post.

Package #1 Shipping from Beloit, WI

At this Staples distribution center the packer opted to use a plastic mailer envelope. Even though I don’t like flexible mailers for crushable product, I am generally a big proponent of mailer envelopes, plastic and paper. I like them because they are light weight, can be made of recycled content and in most areas may be recycled for creating more packaging or other plastic products. However, the mailer that Beloit used did not indicate any recycled content, and did not even offer a recycle code for handling the waste after use.

This is a real shame considering some of the new plastic mailers that are available. We offer several that would be better eco options than what was used on this shipment.

Package #2 Shipping from Carol Stream, IL

At this facility they used a 13” long X 10” wide X 5” box (650 cubic inches) to ship a 4” X 2.25” X 2.75” product, or about 25 cubic inches, which is obviously much more box than was necessary.
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A good customer friend recently recommended us to a customer of his and referred to us as “a great supplier of eco friendly boxes”. Certainly that description is accurate in that we are probably best known for our unique, Globe Guard 100% PCW shipping boxes. However, there is a distinct and real difference between selling eco friendly boxes and selling eco friendly packaging.

Green Shipping Boxes and a Whole Lot More

When a potential customer calls us or visits our Globe Guard Products web store, they usually have a very good idea of what they want and if they find it there, they are able to point, click and the product they need will soon be in their hands. We are indeed a good supplier of green boxes but we also offer a large variety of other eco friendly products on that same site. This includes a large selection of box alternatives and quite frankly, you are not going to get that from your average box maker or seller.

When a box is truly required to ship a product, we also understand the average customer also needs tape to seal the box, void fill to protect the contents and even labels to be able to address the box. Just in the area of void fill alone, we offer one of the widest varieties of loose, molded, paper and eco friendly plastic solutions. Each is in stock and we will gladly and enthusiastically explain the pros and cons of each product for your specific application.

Stock versus Custom Corrugated (more…)

One of the most unique forms of interior/protective packaging we offer is an incredibly green molded pulp product, rightly named “Eco-Flex”. What is truly exciting is our ability to utilize it for multiple uses within a single application, saving our customers space, money and costs resulting from shipment damage.

Glass Is Green but Vulnerable in Shipment

A number of companies have re-discovered glass as an excellent container for organic and other health industry products. This leads to some interesting packaging challenges, especially when the product is shipped via UPS, FedEx and/or USPS. The potential damage problem is compounded when the product is valuable, heavy and it is shipped in less than full case quantities. You can see the problem in the photo when this client ships 6 ounce jars in the same box as their 20 ounce jars.

One Green Packaging Product – Three Great Uses

On applications like this, there are three possible applications: (more…)