I keep saying that most of our Globe Guard products began as customer requests and the four new items we’ve added this week are great examples.

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.

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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

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!

In the entertainment industry this would be considered a teaser ad but we will soon be showing the world a new patent pending product that is about to change the way we all look at packaging and reusability. We believe companies committed to sustainability are about to become greener and reduce their costs in the process.

A Few Questions to Consider:

• What if reusing packaging products was easier?
• What if one corrugated shipper box could do the work of two or more boxes?
• What if your box inventory took up half the space?
• What if you had to replenish that inventory half as often?
• What if your customer return process was more customer friendly as well as more efficient and lower cost for you?
• What if product exchanges or loaners could be accomplished with the same packaging?
• What if you could easily communicate your commitment to green with something as simple as a corrugated shipping box?
• What if your customers appreciated you shipping their orders in a box that can easily be reused, saving them money?

As they say, “stay tuned” for the answers to these and many other sustainable packaging questions. Coming soon:

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…)

What does one have to do the others, you might ask when a blog post title more resembles that of a yet another Harry Potter movie. The items are a small sampling of products that will fit into our new extra long stock shipping boxes. We have just added a 4” X 4” X 36” and a 4” X 4” X 48″ to our assortment, allowing us to provide a sustainable packaging option to customers selling and shipping long, thin items.

Now Offering Extra Long and Extra Tall Corrugated Shipping Boxes

Unusually long products deserve unusually long green shipping boxes

These are not your average 30 to 40% recycled content boxes – these are our standard (for us) 100% PCW boxes. Globe Guard boxes remain one the greenest boxes available and ideal for so many applications ranging from golf putters to curtain rods. Often times, these extra long products are particularly challenging because not everyone stocks these sizes and lengths so we are very glad to be able to now carry them for you.

Our Stock Box List Is Growing Green
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For a long time we’ve tried to keep the bundle sizes on our Globe Guard stock shipping boxes at a consistent 25 boxes per bundle. However, due to numerous customer requests, we are reducing our box count on larger boxes. Why are we implementing this change? Namely, two reasons: Bundle weight and purchase quantity.

Bundle Weight

A 25 count bundle of our GG-27, 5” cube boxes only weighs all of 5 pounds. That is obviously a very light weight, convenient bundle for shipping and handling. However, a bundle of our new GG-31 box which is 22” X 22” X 12” in size, happens to weigh almost 67 pounds when bundled in 25’s. Technically that large bundle can still ship via UPS or FedEx but becomes much more difficult to handle in our facility or yours.

Purchase Quantity

Sometimes you need a large box for a particular need but you may not need twenty five of them. Large boxes get expensive due to size so it doesn’t seem fair to force a customer to buy more than they really need or want, in order to use our eco friendly 100% PCW Globe Guard boxes. Our goal from the beginning was to make green shipping boxes available and affordable to everyone and that includes small volume, over size box customers.

Customer convenience combined with customer safety is our greatest concern so this change made sense from both perspectives.

How Will the Bundle Counts Change?
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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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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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Just in time for holiday order shipments, we are offering several of our cube shipping boxes at the best bracket, lowest possible price, regardless of quantity ordered through November 30, 2009.

This “one price fits all” promotion includes our stock 6”, 8”, 9”, 10” and 14” cube shipping boxes. We also included our very popular 14 X 9 X 9 and 12 X 9 X 4 boxes as well.

Please remember that this pricing is for our Globe Guard 100% PCW boxes, which are made with rugged, 32 ECT board. The Globe Guard logo appears as an eco message on the bottom of every box so your customer knows your packaging is eco consistent with the green products you offer.

Green Shipping Boxes and other Green Packaging Supplies

Please visit our web store and you will also find a wide assortment of other green packaging products there including plastic and paper mailer envelopes, 100% PCW labels and many different void fill solutions.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or would like to receive product samples for review and testing.
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Visit the Globe Guard Eco Friendly Packaging Store for -

Eco Friendly Corrugated Boxes

Eco Friendly Shipping Supplies

Special Deals on Packaging Supplies

and more!

Just when I start thinking I have said and written everything I possibly can about our Globe Guard eco friendly, 100% PCW shipping boxes, I realize I have missed something really important.

Our 3 Eco Friendly Choices for Corrugated Boxes

Our focus has always been on sustainability, combined with application. Each customer requirement is slightly different so it became necessary for us to have available three different types of board, as well as several different grades, so we could provide the best green product for any specific and challenging application.

Green

For certain customer applications such as those requiring a white exterior on the box, no one is able to provide a product that is 100% PCW recycled content or even 100% recycled content. I have written several times on how a white exterior on any box requires a virgin (white) outer sheet so the greatest possible recycled content is 60 to 70%. It is important to note that this is still considerably better and greener than the average, “standard” box which is typically 30 to 40% recycled content.

Greener

Customers who use corrugated mailers often do so because they are looking for something a little more attractive than the average RSC style box. For those customers, appearance is every bit as important as function. Most customers are willing to forgo the outer, white (virgin) exterior in the interest of sustainability but they are not eager to compromise on appearance. We have determined that our 100% recycled content board enables us to die cut mailers just a little cleaner and neater so that is what we prefer to utilize for any die cut design. (more…)