One of the sure signs that you are getting old is when you realize you unintentionally and often make references to characters and things that were popular long before younger people you may be speaking to were even born. That may be the case with the above title.

When I was a kid, one of the most popular Western series on television (black and white no less) was a series called “Have Gun - Will Travel”. That incredibly cool line (for that time) was neatly printed on the lead character’s business card indicating he was a gun for hire. The lead character was known by the single name Paladin and I think he may have started the one name thing, inspiring others like Madonna, Cher or Sting. As I recall his fee was $1,000, which must have been an enormous amount of money back then, so I doubt he had steady work but always managed to find at least one client in desperate need of his services in time for each weekly, exciting episode. (more…)

Our marketing director, Brad Shorr, and I are very different in many ways but one thing we have in common is a good appreciation of humor. With all the confusion, contradictions and misinformation in sustainable packaging, it is not always easy to find the humor in it but we work at it.

With the help of a very talented illustrator, Mark Hill, Brad and I created “Eco Ed”, a cartoon series about the guy we can all relate to, who wants to do the right thing for the environment but is often not sure what the right thing is. We showed the concept to Joe Angel of Summit Publishing and he immediately decided he wanted to make it a regular feature in their Packaging World magazine, beginning last April. (more…)

Our blog promised interviews with “difference makers” in sustainable packaging and I can think of few who have had more widespread positive impact than Rider Thompson. He has posted several of our articles on his Sustainable is Good and written articles about us, so now it is my extreme pleasure to now be able to interview him and share his work with our many friends and customers.

DS: Rider, can you tell our readers how you first became involved in this area and what prompted you to start your first blog?
RT: The idea to start Sustainable is Good actually came about as a combination of a number of my interests. I’ve always been concerned and interested in environmental issues – things like consumption and waste, use of resources etc. I come from a background with many ties to advertising and design so I’ve been exposed to that piece – Sustainable is Good is a combination of my interests all focused on a topic that brings them together – packaging. Nowhere do the worlds of conservation, design waste and consumption come together better than packaging. Packaging is a tremendous source of waste just look at your weekly trash to prove that point most of it is packaging of one sort or another. I think packaging is an area where companies/manufacturers, environmental advocates, consumers and government are beginning to come to together and this will continue in the years to come. Plus packaging is fascinating it plays such a significant role in marketing and a consumer’s decision to make a purchase. Today with an increasingly larger group of consumers factoring sustainability into their buying decisions – packaging is at the forefront and is one of the main areas we’ll see these issues play out. (more…)

Dennis Salazar is maintaining a busy schedule promoting sustainable packaging on the Web and all around the U.S. Here’s a schedule of recent and upcoming activities.

June 24, 2008 - Dennis recently did a podcast on Better Process with Ken Rayment. It includes a brief but informative discussion on Salazar Packaging’s new Globe Guard line of 100% recycled (PCW) content boxes.

August, 2008 – “Selling Sustainability”, a new regular column by Dennis Salazar, will debut in the August issue of Contract Packaging magazine, a Summit Publishing publication. (more…)

Reason #1 -This environmental interest is generational.
We baby boomers generally have some mild eco interest; the Gen X population is much more involved and concerned, while the Gen Y age group is downright passionate about it. Combined this fact with the green initiatives by big business and the corporate world, and understand we are witnessing a dramatic, decisive and irreversible trend, not a passing fad. (more…)