A great green meeting!

Thanks to everyone who came out on Monday for the June Meeting of Packaging Insights. The topic of sustainability drew a full house, generating conversation till late in the evening. Understandably, Wal-Mart’s introduction of the Packaging Scorecard has given all of us a lot to think about.

For those of you who were unable to make it, Rob van Gilse, Director of Marketing and Business Development for Tegrant Corporation’s Alloyd Brands took us through plastic and the Wal-Mart 7 Rs. He pointed out that 40% of the Wal-Mart’s Packaging Scorecard value revolves around packaging design. And a good package design yields more revenue and is more sustainable.

Dustin Schadt and Mike O'Keefe from Green Bay Packaging’s Folding Carton Division broke down the Scorecard where paperboard is concerned and provided a great history of sustainability.

Finally, Emily Siegler and Rich Cohen from Distant Village Packaging rounded out the discussion with their conception of the full lifecycle. By working with third world countries to produce eco-friendly packaging, they not only support sustainable packaging but they also sustain entire communities. When this is done in a way that saves money, it is a social, economic and environmental win.

A BIG THANK YOU goes out to Dave, Melissa, Helen and Todd from Baer Design Group for creating a terrific presentation, signage, and recording our meeting for a podcast. We will let you know when the podcast is ready and posted.

Along with our guest speakers, representatives from MeadWestvaco, Display Pack, Diageo, Planetcanit, Sigma Graphics and Tegrant among others attended. Stay tuned for information on our August Meeting!