eco friendly shipping boxes Tag

27 Oct 2010 Die Cut versus RSC Style Corrugated Shipping Boxes

Posted at 07:10h in Sustainable Products by Dennis Salazar
RSC on left, die cut design on rightIt is not at all uncommon for an application or product to be able to ship out in either a die cut mailer box or a Regular Slotted Container (RSC) style shipping container. Both are quite effective and can be as eco friendly as the corrugated board that is used to make them. In some cases, the choice comes down to customer preference, but there are definitely some distinct advantages to each design. The Advantages of an RSC style shipping box design: 1.    In most cases, unless an RSC is extremely small, it does not require tooling such as a cutting die. 2.    Usually an RSC is less expensive because it consumes less board. 3.    It is easier to erect compared to some complicated die cut designs.
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21 Oct 2010 Globe Guard Paper Mailer Envelopes – Now Reusable!

Posted at 14:07h in Inside Sustainable Packaging by Dennis Salazar
Reusable packaging in every form is more popular than ever, and now our paper mailers are reusable too. These heavy duty paper mailers are available gussetted and custom printed but now they can also be manufactured to be easily used a second time.Globe Guard paper mailers Why Globe Guard Paper Mailers? For green minded customers who will not accept plastic products, these Globe Guard 50% recycled content paper mailers have been a very effective way to mail or ship relatively flat products such as books, photos, etc. The gussetted, three-dimensional mailer envelopes are ideal for thicker, bulky soft goods like tee shirts and reusable bags. Even though they are paper, they offer enough water resistance for most applications and are strong enough to hold up through USPS, FedEx or UPS shipping.
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31 Aug 2010 Small Boxes are Big Problem for Large Retailers

Posted at 10:08h in Sustainable Products by Dennis Salazar
[caption id="attachment_1768" align="alignnone" width="325" caption="Small Size Changes Make a Big Difference"][/caption] We have spent a great deal of time suggesting the idea of “right sizing”, which is essentially only using as large of a shipping container as is truly needed for any product being shipped. Minimizing the size of a shipping box is green and economical because it also minimizes everything that goes along with it such as the necessary void fill and tape used to seal the box. Disturbing Trend – Minimum Allowable Box Size Two months ago we found out about a major electronics retailer who instituted an 8” cube minimum box size. Keep in mind that an 8” cube box is actually EIGHT times larger and eight times the waste compared to a 4” cube box. Then, just a week ago a large ladies accessory retailer notified their suppliers and vendors that they too had adopted a new “minimum allowable inbound shipping container.” It appears this policy is designed to eliminate product loss because smaller boxes have a tendency of becoming lost or damaged in a high volume receiving environment at many large retail operations. This policy is not very positive in terms of packaging sustainability but perhaps it is necessary and important. Greener Options In the spirit of “you can’t fight city hall,” perhaps the best we can do is offer some suggestions to minimize the negative green aspects of this change, as well as minimizing the cost.
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24 Aug 2010 How to Dramatically Increase the Value of Your Boxes with Minimal Additional Cost

Posted at 08:51h in Inside Sustainable Packaging by Dennis Salazar
There is no doubt most people know us for our 100% PCW recycled content corrugated, stock, shipping boxes, but over half of the boxes we sell are custom printed with our customers’ brand or design. One of the things we have noticed is that an increasing number are going well beyond the traditional one color logo and using their boxes to make a very memorable and positive impression on their customers. Some Great Examples of Boxes Designed to Impress and Save Money
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14 Jan 2010 Green, Cost Saving Packaging by Combining Stock and Custom Products

Posted at 10:05h in Sustainable Products by Dennis Salazar
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: orrugated partitions with eco friendly shipping box

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.
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03 Nov 2009 Big Green Shipping Boxes Now Come In Smaller Bundles

Posted at 07:01h in Sustainable Products by Dennis Salazar
[caption id="attachment_978" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Lower Minimums for Larger Green Shipping Boxes"]Lower Minimums for Larger Green Shipping Boxes[/caption] 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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22 Oct 2009 Continuous Improvement in Sustainable Packaging

Posted at 06:17h in Sustainable Products by Dennis Salazar

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

[caption id="attachment_946" align="alignright" width="275" caption="Globe Guard Shipping Boxes Now Easier to Reuse"]Globe Guard Shipping Boxes Now Easier to Reuse[/caption]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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15 Oct 2009 Sustainable Packaging and Staples – Still Not Easy!

Posted at 05:46h in Sustainable Perspective by Dennis Salazar
[caption id="attachment_926" align="alignnone" width="350" caption="Staples Packaging Leaves Much to Be Desired"]Staples Packaging Leaves Much to Be Desired[/caption] 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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