29 Oct 2010 We Sell Boxes!
Posted at 13:23h
in Sustainable Products
It is a common sign we see almost everywhere, just like this one almost directly across the street from our office. They are usually in windows or in front of storage facilities, quick copy centers, pack and ship operations, office supply retailers, moving truck rental operations and even home improvement centers.
A Google search of “boxes” produces more than ninety million results ranging from people selling boxes from their home to national companies selling millions of dollars of boxes, each and every day. Everyone has the ability to sell boxes because quite frankly it does not take a lot of expertise or knowledge if you use the “Here is the box and here is our price” approach.
Selling Boxes versus Selling Packaging
We reached a milestone this year. My wife and partner and I now have a combined fifty years of packaging experience. That experience is not limited just to corrugated shipping boxes; it also includes complimentary and ancillary packaging products such as case sealing tapes, protective packaging, void fill and unitizing, as well as alternatives to traditional corrugated shipping containers. We also know how to combine different products for optimum results and the lowest possible cost.
It 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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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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For a long time we’ve tried to keep the bundle sizes on our 