Ways to entertain your kids with boxes

This year has been a crazy one for parents.  Many Americans have been forced to work from home and have been doing this with all their family home with them.  This has led to a new family dynamic and certainly has made life a bit tough for some families.  Understandably, it has also made life better for some families as they are able to spend more time together. Though spending time together is great, some ways to entertain your children while you work or get things done around the house is important as well.  So we have found that making crafts out of boxes is a great way to keep your kids entertained and in some cases even when you are not there.

With all the increase of online shopping our garages are full of shipping supplies and boxes.  This leaves us with tons of extra shipping supplies to make into crafts.  Yes the bubble wrap and inflatable wrapping along with the boxes all come into play.  With this extra material sitting around until trash and recycling day there are other things you can do while you wait. I think the most classic thing to do is make a box fort.

To make a box fort you will need lots of cardboard boxes.  This is usually not an issue these days since the shopping that we do is mostly online.  There is also the need to make sure these boxes can be put together and that will require tape. I suggest a real thick packing tape but that is simply the kind I buy for my house so it is already sitting around.  I like to be able to slap boxes together because they are useful for a lot of different things.  Now scissors are also another tool you will need and maybe a knife if you feel comfortable and safe using one.  But scissors will do nicely. Now that you have all the tools, find a good plan.

 

It is much more easy to make a cool structure if you don't have to think about how to do it.  Yes, some people find that to be half the fun and if it is, then do it.  Make it all up in your head and have a blast, but some of use are simply too tired to think and just want to make something quick to get your kids busy!  If this is your than youtube or google is your friend. There are so cool quick plans at your fingertips and they don't cost a thing.  Once you start putting it all together, I find I feel more like a kid and get some energy back.  It really is fun to make a cool fort and then see your kids get into it and start their own imagination stories. It is also a great way to spend 30 minutes and find that your kids will spend a few hours a day using it till it breaks down or till it is trash day.  That is a wonderful thought and a wonderful break in the day.

 

But make sure your kids are old enough to play alone. Also make sure they are old enough to use tape or scissors. If not this will all be on you. So build quickly and enjoy!

How to Run an Ecommerce Business Smart, not Hard

If you’re always dragging when trying to run a business, you’re not alone. This is something most people struggle with, because they get into the hot seat, and then, they’re trying to do everything themselves. But there are ways to make it easier, especially if the ecommerce brand and business is a big one. Here are ways to run your business smarter, not harder, and work better as a brand.

Delegate stuff You Don’t Want to Do 

Do you hate answering emails? Or maybe the idea of writing up new content absolutely stinks? Maybe it’s time for you to delegate it to someone else. There are plenty of people who can do this for you, whether in your business itself, or outsourced from another location. This is great because it helps you get the most things done, and so many people don’t realize just how much time and effort this ends up saving, so it can be wonderful for your business too! 

Use CRM 

CRM or customer relationship management software is a way for you to look at the way your customers act, their various behaviors, and what services you can offer.  There are different ways to organize all of this into various groups, which fit with the different needs, projects, and the types of people you’re dealing with. You can always use the CRM to create different tasks and reminders that are triggered the moment certain types of conditions happen. For instance, when customers get added to the lists, or if someone hasn’t logged in for a certain period of time, you can send them texts and emails whenever this happens. 

The Tools of the Trade 

If you haven’t already put these in place, use the tools that are there. There are different reminder triggers you can put in, and they’ll help you with getting properly organized so that things get done. Organization tools are about to be your best friends, as they let you maintain the system, and stay ahead of the game. Remember, if people are managing everything, you could’ve assigned it to someone else. 

That way though, if you have a system in place, you can also have it set up so a person handles one aspect of this, before it’s sent to another person. Asana, Notion, and the like are different management types of apps that will allow you to create new projects for people to use and assess different tasks as well.

Be Aware when You Need Breaks 

Finally, if you start to notice this, you should start taking a break. Remember, if you’re already running on empty, if you’re constantly trying to push past this hurdle, you’re never going to be happy. Taking breaks actually are amazing for production, and there is no shame in taking a little bit of time in order to get a break in.

Even if you take a break for 30 or so minutes, this reduces the anxiety and stress that you get, boosts the performance, and it can make you feel good. Sometimes, a break is needed, and it’ll actually boost the different performances that you have during work, so don’t be afraid to start taking breaks whenever you need to.

Some of the top people in the field tend to get this way by working smarter, not harder, and if you’re someone who feels incredibly overwhelmed, or who needs a break, and feels like they’re about to scream, then it’s time for you to start looking at different ways you can work smarter, and ways to stop overworking.

Getting your house in order with cardboard

It has been a year since my wife and I moved into our home.  This should mean that we are happily settled in and living our American dream.  Well, the reality is that we moved into a fixer-upper and have found ourselves living in a bit of a mess for a year. There is simply one part of our house that is never fixed.  Living like this can surely cause a whole lot of stress and even a strain in some areas.  So we have decided enough is enough.  We have mostly fixe dour whole house up but the place seems a bit of a mess.  It makes sense we have literally redone every single room in the home and some times that has been a very serious remodel.  So I want to go over how we saved our home and got it organized quickly with a bunch of cardboard boxes and some shipping supplies.

 

We still had a whole lot of boxes leftover from our move a year ago.  This was nice in the long run but took up a whole corner of our garage right after the move.  I decided to break them down by cutting the tape on all the corners and setting them aside for a year just in case we needed them again. It turns out that this was a good idea.  After we pretty much finished our remodel we saw that we simply had tons of things in different rooms that we never would use again.  So since I broke down all those boxes I ordered some shipping supplies.  Well, this was lots of packing tape and markers so we could put the boxes back together and mark what would go in them. This certainly was a task and took a little while to do.  But then the question was, what do we do with all the stuff when we get it into the boxes. Won't we just have a bunch of boxes sitting around?

 

Well, the answer to this is yes and the best part of this is yes.  They can stack vertically. So what we did was go room by room and stack sort and mark each of the boxes up. We then created a number system of 1-5 on how important the items in the boxes were and how likely we were going to need them in the future.  SO when we stacked them a 5 would mean we would need them pretty often. A 1 would mean almost never. So we took the boxes and stacked them up to 5 high with 5 being on top and that allowed us to have a better idea of how to store them. 

 

The next thing to do was to find out where to store them.  We thought of a room in the house. But that was a waste of a room. Then we thought about the garage but we really wanted to keep both cars in there. So we ended up getting boxes small enough to fit in our attic.  This meant hauling each box up a ladder and that really is not a lot of fun.  But if we are most likely not going to need the items and we could get them out of the way then its worth it. So that is how we organized our home. I hope this idea helps you with yours!

Creating Frustration Free Packaging

Frustration free packaging is a type of packaging that gives you an unboxing experience that’s seamless, and also provides multiple types of advantages in terms of safety, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability. 

Here, we’ll go over the different ways to create frustration free packaging.

What it is 

Frustration Free types of packaging has been around since 20078, and in fact, is something that amazon introduced.

The goal of this is to make packaging that’s easy to open, not a hassle, and finally reduces the waste, giving you a great solution.

There is the concept of wrap rage, which is the frustration that customers have when they get packaging that’s hard for them to open, and in many cases, this causes products to be damaged, and it creates an unboxing experience that really stinks. 

Many times, frustration free packaging has all of the basic packaging that’s needed, without having too many wire ties, bindings made of plastic, or casings made from clamshell, offering easy mechanisms, and usually, are much simpler than most. 

The Difference between Standard and Frustration Free Packaging 

The biggest difference between each of these is in their designs, the materials that are used, the approach, and the overall experience of customers.

The most standard of packaging usually focuses on the aesthetics, the protection of products, and finally, its branding. It involves complex layers, procedures to open, and also excessive utilization of materials that just aren’t recyclable. 

This can impact the visualization of this, but it also impacts the unboxing experience, and makes it far more difficult to access these products themselves. 

Frustration free packaging is the flipside of this, where it prioritizes access ease, minimizes the waste, and also uses recyclable items that are there. While simpler and requires less work than normal packaging, this can be great for people, because it takes out the anger that is commonly associated with poor packaging standards. 

It’s Cheaper 

Yes, frustration free packaging is made not only to be easy, but also much better on the budget. Through the simplification of the packaging, and the design, it takes out the materials and the production costs.  

This is something that does translate into better price points for customers, which is a great solution for both customers and business. 

It’s a design that’s efficient, compact, and free from frustration, which saves a lot of space during the shipment process and reduces the transit costs. 

It also uses less and lighter materials, which also cuts down on the costs of shipping too. 

Safe and sustainable 

Frustration-free packaging also gets touted as safer for the customers, and also for the product.

For starters, you don’t have to use scissors and knives, which reduces the possible need for having to replace this, and also reduces the chances of you getting hurt when you’re unboxing things.

The safety of these products is made to protect all of the products during the transit process. Because of the simplicity of this, you can get frustration-free packaging that is used to the proper safety standards, without impacting the possible integrity of the product. 

It also is much more sustainable too. This is partially because of the materials that are used, minimizing these so they don’t need to have extra sourcing.  There is also the chance that recyclable types of materials, and are used for repurposing, and recycling this item, rather than just having it end up in landfills. 

It also offers more transportation within the shipment, so you don’t have to spend as much of your carbon footprint on these deliveries, making it better for everyone all around. 

How the EcoJacket Padded Paper Mailers are perfect for recycling.

 Looking to make sure that your paper mailer saves you a ton of money on shipping and packaging while also throwing this in the recycling bin? Then you’re in luck. 

Many times we don’t think about recycling, and we can’t really know the different aspects of what goes into it. Here we’ll discuss curbside recycling, why it matters, and how the EcoJacket Padded paper mailer is perfect for the job. 

Why you gotta Care about Curbside recycling 

More and more customers crave sustainability, and it’s something that needs to be made simple. 

The simplest way is a paper mailer tossed right into the recycling bin. It leads to a higher recycling rate, a more positive environmental impact, and finally, happy customers. 

While alternative packaging was made from soft plastics may seem simpler, it’s very hard, nearly impossible, to recycle.  It causes confusion on a customer’s part and builds landfill waste. 

Did you know that 81% of paper packaging is recovered and then recycled? That’s a large number. In contrast, only 10% of soft plastic is actually recycled. So yes, if it’s paper, people will recycle. 

How the Eco Jacket saves you Recycling Time 

If you’re someone who doesn’t like to recycle or has customers that want to keep it simple, then you’ll want the EcoJacket. 

For one, it’s super easy to recycle at your house. It’s placed right in the bin that’s outside a customer’s home.  You don’t have to take it to specialty locations, just leave it outside and watch them work that magic! 

This type of product is also made only of paper. So instead of it needing to be torn off and sorted, or to have the void fill taken off, it’s all right there, ready for you. 

Finally, it’s so easy to communicate with customers.  This label instructs customers to properly recycle this in their bin outside. A lot of people already know about this, so it’ll be natural for them. 

Saving on Supply, Shipping, Costs and Labor 

While corrugated boxes are great, these mailers are such a better alternative and do help you save. 

First they save you on shipping costs. They reduce the DIM weight, so it conforms to the shape and items shipped out and minimize this package size. Ti does reduce the DIM weight by up to 10% in most cases. 

It also reduces weight actually. Due to it being lighter than regular boxes, it also reduces that actual weight. 

The EcoJacket also saves on packaging costs. It doesn’t require tape due to the self-sealing closure. It eliminates that need for some tape. There's also no void fill required, so it comes with padding that’ll cushion the items within it.  that eliminates any possible need for void fills or additional types of materials. 

It also reduces the labor costs of packaging by up to twice as fast.  It’s so quick. You just have to peel the strip which adheres to it, and then pats this closed. When you pack boxes, you have to put the box together, load this, add in the void fill, and finally tape all of this shut. 

So what does that mean for you? Well workers can then pack mailers up to 2.5 times faster than the ones that use a box. 

So reading this means that yes, it’s straightforward, eco friendly, and is good for reusing the shipping costs and boosting recycling rates. Ti also simplifies everything for customers, offering savings and benefits.  It’s great for getting efficiency without compromising the sustainability of the item that’s there for you to use.

Zero Waste Packaging solutions and the Circular Economy

The zero waste type of movement is a new one that offers a unique impact on the packaging importance within the circular economy. With zero waste, you are preventing landfills and other areas from filling up and providing you with a more sustainable experience.

Here, we’ll go over the elements of Zero waste, and what you can do to start building a better zero waste economy with your packaging options.

What Zero Waste Is 

It is exactly what you would think it is. It's packaging that has nothing left behind and is used in another different way.

For instance, recyclable packaging is one example of this. These can be recycled by the person into something else, or at a facility which compensates customers for doing their part to recycle.   The beauty of this is that it is simple to do, and most people are willing to do this.

The other type of zero waste is compostable. This is like the recyclable type, but it requires you to compost the items you have.   You can do this at home, or in a composting facility, and in turn, you will be able to save the planet, and also improve the soil content.

The third, is reusable.   You can reuse the item for something else. For instance, a package with a box that’s unique can be reused into something else, like an accessories box. 

Overall, you want to make sure that these are in some way set up and are put together to reduce the waste that’s there. 

Going minimal for Zero Waste 

Another part of this is minimalism. 

Some companies realize how wasteful they’re being with this, so they will try to reduce the box size, or even just use a box that’s more effective than something huge to house the item. Customized packaging is a great example of this.

The efficiency reduces the use of different items, such as, of course, void fill and other filler that can eat away at costs and be wasteful. 

Ensuring efficient design is a great thing to do, and it can help with improving sustainability as well. 

Why Go Zero Waste 

When you go to zero waste, you are doing something for the environment.

So much waste goes out from our packaging alone, and many big companies are starting to see this. It is especially true when companies start to look at ways to be more effective with their packaging, and it starts with a redesign. 

Many companies that do this see an impact not just in the environmental factors, but the profits as well. Some see a major increase in profits because of this, and it can promote sustainability.

It also is good for ensuring that customers get what they want. With more customers looking towards this, offering a zero waste solution is so important.

The Problems with Zero Waste 

While it is something great to do, it can be a challenge.

Some companies struggle with the functionality and aesthetics of this. Sometimes, getting a box that isn’t’ wasteful' is a challenge, especially if it requires more protection. However, with eco friendly foam and other inserts, it can be something that will balance out the aesthetics and functionality.

The other downside is costs.   It can cost a lot to make the change. Some might also realize that if they aren’t careful, they will end up with more waste than before. This is especially true when things aren’t properly sourced.

Putting in the effort and ensuring that you don’t be wasteful is the key to success, and to reduce the packaging waste you put out. 

The impact of emotional Packaging

 When you’re looking to improve your packaging, one way to do so is emotional packaging.  This is something that’s designed, created, and then it [provides an added value to the product that’s bought. This is packaging that’s capable of building emotional and a sensory level of connection with each of the different customers out there. it builds surprise, and then gets them excited to work with you.

One example of this is Saara Jarvonin, who had a project that was called The Grand Opening. While at first, this project was just boxes, and you might wonder how they were going to really cash in on this.  the answer: by opening these.

What’s interesting about this is that they usually do this with experience which creates a derivation of the process. It’s not something new that the package lifespan is far shorter than most objects, which is partially why Jarvinen has decided to create a very common emphasis on certain features, which are the openings. 

She was able to take this and use that simple action to build a moment that’s unique. Each box provided some emotion, meaning, and finally suspense through the impel process of opening it in a unique way. This was a core part of the emotional sorts of packaging. Simple gestures create rituals, and then, you are able to reconsider and from there stop and look at each of the packaging values. 

When you press, pull, tear, crush or twist, you usually open a box and that’s a common one.

To get this result however, they looked at cinematic techniques that define each movement. Cinema is art-based on narratives that are rapid and do exploit the potential aspects of these different gestures, especially through communication. 

This created a simple, but unique type of packaging that creates a fun emotion.  This is also a huge part of the packaging.

Now, instead of tearing and opening this with clasps, you get to squeeze the packaging, and it spills out the food, so it creates a distinct part of every single product that’s there, and it also is great for specific actions. this provides a means to aim and look at life every single day, eventually planning to conquer each of these. 

The cool thing about The Grand Opening is that there’s very little that actually follows this sort of way, and it creates an interesting emotion for people. Instead of getting upset that the items spill out, or are completely unfazed by the packaging, this is something that can be used to show off some of the best, most unique means to bolster and create the ideal packaging experience that you can. 

Plus, what’s even cooler is that, based on some of the other items that they sell, they have other unique meanings too. For example, for spices and ground packaging, instead of it being something you squeeze, you pinch the corner, open it, and then fill as much as needed from the corner of the packaging. You close this once again with just pushing it. 

The ease of this is something unlike anything seen by many people, and for a lot of individuals, there is a lot of great benefit that comes with this, and a whole lot of great ways to improve the custom packaging that’s there.

Ultimately, you need to discuss this with the provider, and try to get the ideal packaging that you can, however it might be. Work on your packaging, and see for yourself the benefits of each, and everything that comes about with this as well.