Our new cooler made of water-resistant corrugated board has attracted a lot of attention, and what’s not to like? After all, it is reusable, disposable, recyclable, repulpable, biodegradable, compostable, and can even be branded with your logo and artwork. It is great for personal use but also makes a great retail add on, impulse item or even a useful and memorable custom printed giveaway item for your customers.

Here are some typical questions people have asked:

How many times can The Globe Guard cooler be reused?

We have used ours several times and it still appears it could handle several more uses. There is no definitive number of times it can be used because it really depends on what it is filled with and for how long it is used, as well as how it is dried and stored. For example, after each use, we empty ours and let it dry flat and it still looks like new.

How much will it hold?

The quick answer is 15 quarts, which is approximately a case and a half of 12 ounce cans and a large bag of ice.

What makes it water resistant and water proof?

The water resistance results from a special coating that is applied to the inside of the cooler. What makes it unique is that the coating is NOT plastic (natural gas) or wax (petroleum) based so there is no adverse affect on the cooler’s ability to be recycled or re-pulped. The water proofing is due to the unique patent pending design. There are no exposed seams on the bottom or side of the cooler.

What is the minimum for custom printing?

250 coolers or one pallet. Smaller quantities can be run but require an up charge for set-up time. The one time plate cost for printing on both sides of the cooler is usually less than $300 per color but can be accurately priced when artwork is provided for review.

How many colors can you print?

As many as you want or need, though one to three colors is the norm.

Do you offer wholesale pricing for retailers?

Yes we do, and we also offer retail POP displays and guidance. This is a great item to feature in your store and we do everything we can to make it easy and profitable for you.

How can you dispose of the cooler when done?

First of all we hope you will re-use it as many times as possible but when it finally reaches the end of its initial life cycle, we hope you will recycle it anywhere paper and corrugated can be recycled, which for most people is at curbside. If that is not possible, the cooler, like most corrugated products, will biodegrade and can even be composted in your backyard compost heap.

Remember, the Globe Guard Eco Friendly, Reusable Cooler is on sale through the end of August for as low as $3.99 each.

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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I think most would agree that corrugated board is one of the greenest packaging materials currently available. You can buy it with a high or 100% recycled content and when it is no longer needed, it can easily and readily be recycled to serve another day and another packaging application.

Partitions have been rediscovered by the green and packaging communities as a great way to solve a packaging or damage problem, while reducing material and labor costs when compared to other product protection options. Best of all, it can all be accomplished with undeniably eco friendly, corrugated board.

Corrugated Partitions – Not Just for Liquor Bottles Anymore

Historically corrugated partitions have been a mainstay in the liquor and bottled beverage industry because they do such an excellent job of separating and protecting one product from another. Obviously bottle to bottle damage is virtually eliminated and other benefits are also enjoyed.

• Labels are not marred or damaged in shipment because label to label abrasion is prevented.
• Stacking strength is dramatically increased, even when the bottled and cased products are heavy liquids
• Bottles and jars remain upright, minimizing the possibility of leakers

New Applications for Eco Friendly Corrugated Partitions

Recently we have had a flurry of partition projects and applications and here are a few reasons why our customers chose this solution over other options we offered:

To verify count – Products were individually wrapped with Kraft paper to avoid damage and then randomly stacked and packed in a corrugated case. Our customer was being inundated by claims of incorrect counts. Coincidently the complaints were always for under shipment, never over, so we created a 20 cell partition that separated the individual products for easy, accurate count confirmation.

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I have come to believe that every box has a story to tell about the person or company who sent it. I am quite sure that together with the other packaging/shipping materials being used, the box sends a silent but powerful message to the recipient about the shipper.

• If you are utilizing “used/recycled” boxes are they saying you are conservative and considerate of the environment or are they screaming, cheap and uncaring about the image you project to your customers?
• If you are using boxes that are obviously too large for the product(s) being shipped, are they communicating your lack of knowledge and/or concern about the correct use of packaging materials?
• If your customer’s product arrives damaged, are your boxes saying that you would rather save a few cents than to develop a long term relationship with them?
• If you are using a standard corrugated box with any percentage of virgin fiber, are your boxes admitting you are willing to sacrifice a few trees in a misinformed effort to save some money or time?

Our Green Customers Are Not Like Everyone Else

And thank God they are not. However, this also means that we as a supplier to them, our packaging not only has to perform as well and be as cost competitive as everyone else’s, it also has to be as green as possible. (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…)