Everyone is Red Hot for "green" Products

How about your local newspaper? Are they focused on local eco-friendly businesses?

Trade magazines and newspapers in the retail packaging industry are all concentrating on "Green" businesses. The local newspapers have been highlighting local manufacturers, growers and businesses trying to be enviromentally friendlier.

So how about the retailers? Don't you think if you have a custom paper or plastic shopping bag made from recycled and biodegradable materials with your name on it, use giftboxes made from 100% post consumer waste, and recycled kraft tissue that might be news worthy?

So retailers go ahead and try it. Have the packaging made and then write a press release to every newspaper within a 50 mile radius of your location, tourist publications and community websites and tell them. You will be surprised how interested an editor will be of the simplest local interest story and you will be more surprised in how many locales will respond to a news paper article.

If new packaging isn't in your budget then offer a discount to those customers bringing in their own shopping bags to take away their purchases. Tell that to the editor. I know I would come visit and make a purcase for a discount. A local grocer gave five cents back for every plastic bag I re-used on every purchase. I know I used 10 bags with most of purchases and that wasn't a huge savings but I thought it was a great attempt by the grocer.

Of course if you are in a "green" community and everyone is already doing it then it might not work. Well then you send out a press release stating you finally joined the "green" movement and some locales might visit your store because you finally came around to their way of thinking.
Watch for my next blog on how to write a press release.

Quotes, Quotes, Quotes

I love giving out quotes. Quotes for bags, boxes, ribbons, labels, stickers, tags or anything to do with custom packaging.

Do you use custom packaging or need custom packaging? Yes you say then ask for a quote. Keep me and my Gift Box colleages busy.

You might learn that you are currently paying too much for your existing packaging or that you can afford the packaging you've wanted for so long. Give us a try.

If you are in Southern New England give me a call 401683-5377 or call 1-800giftbox to find out your local representative. It might just save you a dollar or two in this tough economic times and that alone will be worth the call.

At the very least you will get a new 2008 Gift Box Catalog to review.

"Green Ribbon" Option

Cream City's 100% cotton curling ribbon is made in the USA of 100% natural and biodegradable cotton yarns, water soluble glues, and soy based inks. It's look is very unique.


It appears to be paper but its not. It is very stiff to the touch. It curls like traditional splendorette curling ribbon and it also shreds and strips very easily. You can fold and crease this ribbon and it holds the shape. You can even weave this ribbon. All these features and attributes make cotton curling ribbon a great option for a green ribbon to finish off your green retail packaging.

It comes in a variety of solid colors, variant stripe and dot combinations and can be custom imprinted with your logo. The cost of this product is reasonable but varies greatly between retail packaging distributors. So look for the best deal.


This ribbon is being used in the retail, floral, gift basket and craft markets, by manufacturers and even in event planning and wedding decorating.





This excerpt was taken from the Gift Box Corporation's website --- Is it cotton curling ribbon too?



"Eco-friendly ribbon will soon be available in 100% organic cotton and a blend of cotton and hemp. This product will be available plain or custom printed."



I can't wait to see what new ribbon products Gift Box Corporation is introducing this year. The have something new up their green sleeves. Once the new catalog is out, I will update the blog with more information on Gift Box Corporations product description and image.


There are other natural 100% cotton ribbon products in taffeta, herringbone or basket weave design. These types of ribbons are much more costly then cotton curling ribbon. They are soft to the touch and do not retain their shape when tied into a large bow. A simple bow or knot works well when using this ribbon complementing your retail packaging.

Price verses Quality

So many business owners look at the actual price of a single product as opposed to looking at the bottom total of the order.

What I mean is:

As a sales representative I work with my customers to reduce their actual invoice total in turn reducing the actual product cost.

See the company that I work for as a sales representative, Gift Box Corporation, offers our customers quantity discounting and annual usage discounting.

For my customers that place bag orders in the first quarter of the year for the entire year, they get 15% off for the first quarter special and then we add up the total number of bags and give them a quantity discount based on annual usage on top of it. We can ship multiple times through out the remainder of the year providing the customer with bags when they need them instead of overwhelming them with inventory with one large order. To save the customer even more money we offer a half off frieght allowance on all orders of $350.00 or more.

Does your packaging distributor offer those deals?

Take another look at the bottom line.

Some times it pays to work directly with your packaging rep and ask for specials and cost cutting measures. I also suggest having a competitor of your current packaging company provide you with a quote on all packaging products. Give that second packaging rep the quantities for the packaging products used in the previous year along with exact descriptions of your products, color, shape and materials or supply them with actual samples of your products. You do not have to tell them the dollar amounts, a good rep will not need that information. Have that second packaging rep provide you with the costs for reordering based on annual usage and company discounts.

As an example, a potential new customer that I am currently working with purchases paper bags, gift boxes and tissue from a competitor. When asked for pricing on shopping bags, I provided them with first column pricing. They stated that I was way over priced. My first response was how many bags do you order a year? Thousands was her answer. So now I re-adjusted my numbers based on her annual usage. I also provided her with information concerning the discounts available to her in the coming year. When all said and done my cost was less. I didn't provide her with any extra discounts only the ones she earned. I don't play games when it comes to pricing. So many sales reps/manufacturers will reduce the cost of the first order to secure the new business then up the cost on future orders. I will not. I want my customer to get the actual pricing due to them so they don't have sticker shock in the future. I am also suppling this customer a quote for custom shopping bags. A full years worth of inventory but I am hoping to drop her cost per bag even futher.

Will I get the business? Maybe not because her current sales rep/packaging provider might meet my pricing or even beat it to keep the business. As much as I want the order thats OK. I know that customer is getting the pricing they deserve and that sales representative/manufacturer is being kept honest. And this is why I suggest you should occasionally work with your packaging provider's competitor for pricing at least every few years.

Who is going to hurt? No one especially not you because you will know you are getting the best price available to you.

So the last few blogs have been about "green" packaging and you ask what does this have to do with any thing green - well I have two answers. One, you will have more green in your pocket!
and two, Gift Box Corporation maintains stock products that are made from recycled products, products that are recyclable and products that are re-usable. Check them all out at http://www.800giftbox.com/.

Green Packaging Company

Well I am partial to Gift Box Corporation of America (since I am a sales rep for them) but they have been hip to being green for longer then being green was hip. Here is their green leadership story from their website:


At Gift Box, we take pride in our company's long history of being "green." In fact, we are the original "green" packaging company. Many of our products are manufactured with environmentally-friendly materials, using combinations of post-consumer and post-industrial waste.

The board we use to manufacture our gift boxes, and the newsprint we laminate to the inside, are both 100% post-consumer recycled paper. The paper we laminate to the outside of our boxes contains post-industrial paper waste. The glue we use to adhere these two laminates to the board is natural cornstarch glue that we cook ourselves. All of our inks are water-based and can be disposed of easily and safely. These boxes are 100% recyclable and the recycled emblem is debossed on each one.

Our regular paper shopping bags, merchandise bags and eurotote bags are all recyclable or reusable, and we also offer paper shopping bags made from 80% post-industrial waste and 100% post-consumer waste. Our "green" paper packaging is made from either post-consumer or post-industrial waste, benefitting the environment.

All of our plastic bags are environmentally friendly as they can be recycled. Gift Box also offers bags containing 25% post-consumer waste which helps the environment by saving the resources required to manufacture more plastic and eliminating landfill mass at the same time. We also offer two degradable bags, one which breaks down from extended exposure to UV sunlight and the other is biodegradable and decomposes through the actions of natural soil borne microbes.
The white and kraft tissue we sell contains 60% post-industrial waste and it is recyclable as well. Future plans include changing the mix to 50% post-industrial waste and 10% post-consumer waste.

Eco-friendly ribbon will soon be available in 100% organic cotton and a blend of cotton and hemp. This product will be available plain or custom printed.

For more information on packaging that's good for the environment, e-mail customer.service@800giftbox.com or call 1-800-GIFTBOX.

If you're looking for "green" packaging, you're looking for Gift Box. "Green" leadership for over 70 years and counting.

I am a proud sales representative for Gift Box Corporation and have to say it's easy selling the best gift boxes in the nation especially when they are already green.