The packaging industry has always been great about finding new ways to utilize old products and designs. I guess that would qualify as a form of recycling and we are all for it! The photos below show a design that has been referred to as a pillow pack box or even as an apple pie mailer because the shape is reminiscent of the container McDonalds once used on their apple pie desserts. In any case, we are finding it to be a sweet design for a variety of packaging and mailing applications and very eco friendly.

What Makes These Mailers Sustainable?

Our Globe Guard Pop and Load Mailers are made out of our 100% recycled content corrugated board or 100% recycled content paper board, and of course they are 100% recyclable after their use. However, they are also sturdy enough that they are often re-used for a second, third or return shipment, which makes them even better than any single use envelope or box.

The material (board) composition is far from the only reason these mailers are excellent green packaging:

• The unique shape “pinches” the product n place, immobilizing it and eliminating the need for costly or time consuming void fill
• The contoured shape creates excellent crush zones on all four corners, protecting the product and eliminating the use of cushioning materials.
• It requires a minimum of tape to seal it and usually one small tab of tape does the trick. This saves tape and labor and also improves the likely hood the mailer will be re-used.

Why “Pop and Load”?  Many Reasons, Including Labor Savings! (more…)

In my opinion, there are some concepts and ideas in sustainability that are still not as well understood and accepted as they should be. Back in November, 2007 I wrote an article for Sustainable Is Good titled “The One Material Myth” .

The theme of that article was that in many cases, a combination of two, easily separated and sorted materials is a much better sustainable solution compared to one material that is not as eco–friendly or as easily recycled.

The key to that theory and statement is “easily separated and sorted”. Recently I have been seeing a rash of two material packaging products being sold under a green flag that are absolutely terrible in terms of sustainability. They are virtual green dead ends because the final outcome will always be a land fill.

Eco Dead End Products

A terrific example of this is the cushioned or lined mailer envelope. The make and model is not important or whether the mailer is lined with foam or a bubble product. If the liner is fused to the paper, no one is going to separate and recycle either material so the whole mailer winds up in the trash. The mailer in the photo brags about its 100% recycled paper with 25% PCR. Don’t get me wrong.  I think it is wonderful that they are using recycled content paper. However I know the unsuspecting public is buying this product, thinking they are doing a good thing for the environment and not even realizing that since it is lined with a plastic bubble cushion inside, it cannot and will not ever be recycled. (more…)