There are four pathways to green packaging bliss, which will you take?

I’m not as green as I should be. I love Mother Earth, but in comparison to my tree-hugging neighbors, I appear to be living a heathen lifestyle. I don’t spend my weekends throwing trash from a speeding car or sitting around a bottles bonfire, but like your customers, I am aware of the green-living movement, and the impending guilt to live a more eco-friendly life is finally taking its toll. You’re at a fork in the road; decide which of these four green routes will lead you to both green packaging and green income.

Australia says 'g'day' to plain packaging for cigarettes, what next?

Here’s a riddle for you. In the fifties they made you cool, in the eighties and nineties they made you dangerous, today they identify you as a few bricks shy of a load (not the brightest crayon in the box, a burger short of a combo meal, not the sharpest tool in the shed... you get the picture). This December a law will come into effect, mandating that all cigarettes sold in Australia be stocked in plain packaging. Read on to learn what this means for tobacco companies and consumers.

A quick glimpse of Valentine's Day 2012 through packaging

I'm usually not a fan of naysayers. Who needs negativity in an otherwise pleasant situation? Not me. That said, whoever the heartbroken fool was who first said Valentine's Day is all about candy was right. Just take a look at what I stumbled upon while walking through the aisles on the eve of Valentine's Day.

Packagers and filmmakers strike a nerve with consumers through nostalgia

It’s February. Typically a lead-in like this would translate into some hokey, pseudo-romantic haiku about Valentine’s Day, but not this time. Sure it’s the season of love, but Cupid isn’t the only one hard at work this month. It’s also the time for Oscar to shine. Keep reading to witness what may appear to be a shameless attempt to connect bottle designs with the glitz and glamour of Hollywood but is in fact a look at how nostalgia can play to the desires of consumers and moviegoers alike.

Aging population raises the question, bottles or blister packs?

Children are taught at a young age that a hospital, doctor’s office or dentist’s chair is a safe place to be. I don’t always agree. And I’m not just saying that because I still cringe at the thought of going to the dentist. My conclusion is based on a simple fact; people make mistakes, even medical professionals. Read about how packaging prescribed medications in blister packs instead of bottles may be the key to keeping patients safer, healthier and happier.

Take a trip down memory lane with Kayla's 2011 Packaging Countdown

2011 was quite a year. Charlie Sheen went crazy, millions said goodbye to Harry Potter and the Hogwarts crew and Justin Bieber rented out the 20,000 seat Staples Center for a date. That’s right, madness ensued. Thankfully, die-hard packagers aren’t fazed by any of that nonsense. Catch up on what’s really important and read my countdown of the hottest packaging developments to come out of 2011.

Take a trip down the rabbit hole and join Alice in Plasticland

Our February calendar features Sales Rep Mary as the 19 year old Alice returning to wonderland, the realm that resembles the nightmares she had as a child. The film, Alice In Wonderland (2010), while bizarre, was a visual treat. Alice in Plasticland however, plays host not to opium-abusing cats, cranium-enhanced queens, and mentally unstable hat makers, but over-sized plastic bottles, sprayers, and pumps.