Green Packaging | Guided ProductsGuided Products

ReBinder Becoming Guided Products

HISTORY

In 2004 ReBinder (then Sustainable Group) pioneered the making of responsible office products with the Original ReBinder. From that instant, making products the right way has been in our DNA. We don’t consider this approach a ‘project’ or a ‘niche market’, it is the only way we’ve ever done it. Today we are announcing our plans for a more broad application of that approach.

BACKGROUND

There are about as many definitions of Social Responsibility (corporate or otherwise) as there are recycled icons, ’green’ symbols and certifications. It’s confusing, it’s not authentic and the entire industry has lost trust and credibility as a result. At ReBinder we have always kept our approach simple and honest – responsible (for us) has always meant: Made in USA, using responsibly sourced materials with consideration for where those materials end up at product’s end of life.

ACTION

We are changing our name from ReBinder to Guided Products. Guided Products is a pioneering, cross-category brand of responsible products that break through the ‘green’ noise and are built with our fellow Americans in mind. The definition of Guide is “One who shows the way by leading, directing, or advising” and “One who serves as a model for others, as in a course of conduct”. We are excited about this new name as it is in perfect alignment with our intentions. There are many categories where change, clarity and leadership are needed – we plan to address them.

In a marketplace filled with ‘green-washing’, diluted claims and confusing certifications, Guided Products will provide clarity, trust and jobs for Americans. Every Guided product will continue to be made the right way, considering environmental, social and economic factors. Guided products will perform the same function, be available on the same shelf (virtual or physical) and at the same price as comparable, less responsible products. Guided products embody American Made Values.

IT CAN BE DONE

Products made in this country can win in the marketplace. They can be price competitive. They can have amazing quality, design and function. And YES they should yield profits for the maker – it is the only way to make the products truly sustainable.

ON DECK

In the coming months we will begin rolling out with our new corporate brand of Guided. We are looking forward to sharing exciting news in the coming months about product availability through new distribution and new product categories. Long live capitalism. Follow us – we are in for the fun stuff.

Brown is the Real Green

Future ReBinder Recycled Binders

Besides the obvious ‘do you make this in plastic’ question that we occasionally field, the second most peculiar question we are asked is if we can ‘cover up the brown kraft’ and flood it with color or wrap it….and yes sometimes, we are asked if we can wrap it in plastic or vinyl.

So the short answer to these questions is – we make zero waste office products that do not end up in a landfill at the end of their useful life…period. It’s very simply language and provides zero gray area that would allow us to cut corners in terms of ReBinder’s core values and guiding principals. So that’s that – landfill bad. ReBinder No Landfill Required.

The next part of discussion usually focuses on why a buyer or user would want brown. We tell customers if green and sustainable office products are what you seek, then naturally you should want it brown kraft. The fact is that ReBinder products are not simply a recycled binder, CD case, recycled notebook, index tab divider, or a pocket folder. They are your responsible message, billboard, corporate social responsibility (CSR) statement, and values…..and no other color speaks to these better then a natural brown kraft. Anything but brown kraft is dyed, wrapped, or otherwise altered or taken out of it’s original form which at best doesn’t highlight them as a sustainable or responsible product, but usually when referred to as green or recycled, is greenwashing.

So in summary, ReBinder is brown kraft. Brown is the Real Green. Lastly, and completely off topic and with no relevance, we like headstands, pugs, and flip-flops.

ReBinder Endorsed Kraft Goodies – Cardboard Safari

Every so often you run into a cool ‘tiny little company’ as they put it, doing some neat stuff – Cardboard Safari fits that billing. We found them a while back and it is taken every bit of self-discipline we have not to line all of our office walls with their stuff. Fun and definitely a conversation piece. They also do a great job from a sustainability perspective and are super efficient with packaging.

Check them out at CardboardSafari.com and support a cool little Made in the USA company that is doing things the right way.

Kind of wishing it was Christmas already so we could go crazy!

The Innovation of Greenwashing @expowest

7g-cardboard-bottle
Some of our team just got back from #ExpoWest. Overall impressions were mixed. The good news, there is still innovation building responsible products out there. The bad news, there is equal innovation in greenwashing…making it more challenging for the authentic to prevail through the noise.

Winners – We loved the Seventh Generation new kraft cardboard packaging and look. It delivered their authentic message on point and above the noise. Everyone else seemed to show a picture of a forest, leaf or dirt – and use the word green…and their messages got mumbled together.

#RUSerious?! – One rep at a booth told us his ‘biodegradable’ plastic stuff ‘went away’ after being put in a landfill. We asked if it composted or biodegraded…he said it just disappeared. A) there’s a difference between biodegrading and composting, B) things don’t compost in landfills, not even newspapers, C) train your reps.

Lastly – we saw a bunch of folks selling their (positioned as) natural/responsible products using vinyl/plastic sales materials. If you’re one of these folks, take a look at our line of zero waste office and promotional products. We’d love to help you out next time you want to break through the noise…and it shouldn’t cost you any more.

ReBinder in Washington Manufacturer Alert

Washington Manufacturer Alert did a great article on ReBinder recently. The article is reprinted in its entirety below with permission from Washington Manufacturer Alert.

Our Favorite Quote:

“We would argue that no company is a green company. They are simply a company. The only way a difference will ever really be made by responsible products is when they sit on the same shelves, for the same price as the other choices. It’s time to stop crying foul at industry and (realize that) industry is the catalyst to change. Get good at it, or get comfortable at the kids table, where you’ll have little impact on what’s served for dinner. Responsible companies choose ReBinder to align message, mission and budget. If one of those is missing, then it’s going to be a long road for makers of responsible products.”

ReBinder Offers A Replacement For Plastic CD Cases

A Seattle company that makes office products – ranging from three-ring binders to presentation folders and notebooks – out of recycled and recyclable materials has landed a distribution agreement with a major office-supplies wholesaler.

The agreement is for a line of cardboard cases and sleeves to hold CDs, DVDs and computer disks.

ReSleeve and RePlay are part of the product portfolio at ReBinder, a company formally known as Sustainable Group LLC but more commonly referred to by the name of the product with which the company started seven years ago. The ReBinder features a detachable metal ring-binder system, so that when the old cover wears out, a new one can be attached.

The distribution contract is with United Stationers Inc., which lists 100,000 items it supplies to resellers and retailers through 64 warehouses serving 25,000 customers.

Just as ReBinder is designed to replace non-recyclable vinyl binders that wind up in landfills, RePlay and ReSleeve (a two-disk folder) are designed to replace non-recyclable plastic jewel cases and clamshell containers.

Brant Williams, ReBinder’s chief marketing officer, says the company sees big opportunities in both existing and new markets and applications for RePlay and ReSleeve.

“The existing markets consist of everything from large media companies and multinationals using these for internal purposes to photographers and bands distributing their work, to wedding celebrations and personal effects,” Williams says. “More than anything, the common thread is that these are used by groups large and small who have a sustainability commitment of some form and want to demonstrate that through their materials. Because our cases communicate that message instantly and powerfully, they are a good fit for those customers.

“Growth markets are retail and disk duplicators. If you walk down the aisle of any big box store, you’ll see a massive amount of plastic CD cases … and no option for a responsible choice. That same store may offer ‘green’ solutions in every other category of products, but not in jewel cases. Now they can and we’re excited about helping them do that.”

United has the exclusive distribution agreement for ReSleeve and RePlay, and this is the first line of products ReBinder has placed with the company.

The company has also been building retail sales, through its own website (www.guidedproducts.com) and through retail channels including Amazon.com and OfficeMax.com. Local retailers carrying ReBinder products include Goods for the Planet, Paperhaus, UW Bookstore and NuBe Green.

ReBinder sources the materials for its products from Northwest mills. Packing and shipping is handled by Northwest Center, a Seattle-based non-profit providing services, training and employment to the disabled. While China’s appetite for American recycled paper has driven up the price for that commodity, Williams says increased sales volumes have helped offset that, and prices for ReBinder’s products at retail are comparable to those for products that can’t be recycled.

The privately held company has 20 employees. While it doesn’t disclose financials, Williams said Re-Binder is profitable and growing.

Growth will come from adding new products. ReBinder currently lists 85 SKUs in the categories of recycled binders, CD cases, notebooks, folders and labels, and Williams says the company will add products in the existing categories and venture into new categories.

Growth will also come from expanding availability of ReBinder products. “We think of distribution in a simple way: people should be able to buy the products they want, from the place they want,” Williams says. “To us, that means being available in the channels through which money is spent today. That means every corner of distribution in office products, retail and natural products.”

The company uses 100 percent recycled materials (the chipboard is made with 85 percent post-consumer recycled content), certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative or Forest Stewardship Council, and says its products, including name badges, are 100 percent recyclable.

For all that, and even though it markets what it calls green products, Williams says ReBinder doesn’t hold itself out as a green company. “While we do make things responsibly, and we do give back to the people in our communities, and none of our products require a landfill, we are not a green company,” he says.

“We would argue that no company is a green company. They are simply a company. The only way a difference will ever really be made by responsible products is when they sit on the same shelves, for the same price as the other choices. It’s time to stop crying foul at industry and (realize that) industry is the catalyst to change. Get good at it, or get comfortable at the kids table, where you’ll have little impact on what’s served for dinner. Responsible companies choose ReBinder to align message, mission and budget. If one of those is missing, then it’s going to be a long road for makers of responsible products.”

ReBinder wants your images!

Liberty Tree Photography using the RePlay

Want to be wealthy and famous?

Well, we can’t guarantee either of those things. But we can help you a little bit towards those goals through our new ReBinder Customer Images program. Our customers do beautiful things with the blank canvas of ReBinder products, and we want to show those off!

How does it work? Simply send us an action shot of ReBinder products being used in in a creative or cool way, and we’ll send you a $10 coupon on your next ReBinder order. We’ll also be happy to attribute your business or website along with the photo for some free publicity!

Click here to learn more about sending in your images.

Vultures, Guilt and Your ‘Green’ Dollar

Green Vulture The vultures are circling and they are looking to prey on your guilt and ‘green’ dollar. Long gone are the days of just looking for a recycle symbol and pushing the buy button. Today, this symbol is probably one of the most overly used / abused and diluted symbols in the market place and it has been rendered virtually meaningless.

Note to selves – don’t trust a ‘green’ label by itself. For that matter, don’t even trust a ‘green’ or ‘responsible business’ certification by themselves.

There was a recent piece on WSJ.com titled Misleading Claims on ‘Green’ Labeling that details a study where 95% of consumer products examined committed at least one offense of “greenwashing”. This is not news to us – we have been crying foul on recycle symbols being on toxic vinyl for years. However, it underscores the value marketeers are placing on the ‘green’ fashion and discretionary spend (the fact that is still remains a ‘fashion’ is another blog for another day…more to come).

Take a read at the article. Open your eyes. Peel back the onion on what you are buying, how it is made, and who makes it. The consumer still remains the most effective environmental watchdog – we all need to take time when making buying decisions and scream loudly with our wallets and budgets.

eBay testing reusable shipping boxes

Every year, eBay holds an internal competition amongst employess to see who can come up with some breakthrough ideas. The winner this year was the “simple green box“.

While eBay doesn’t actually ship anything themselves, they have millions of buyers and sellers in their network that use vast quantities of packing materials. eBay’s concept is that a strong, reusable box made from recycled materials would significantly reduce the footprint of these packaging materials.

The boxes themselves are made from 100% recycled materials, and most importantly, FSC-certified corrugated cardboard, so you know it comes from responsibly-managed forests and verified recycle sources.

In terms of the design, eBay has done a great job of making the boxes look special and making the act of reusing them seem fun. Each box will have a history tracking its journey over time, so you can better picture the miles your particular box has logged.

Only 100,000 are being printed for the initial test, in three sizes. We hope this eBay program is something that catches on!

The recycle symbol is useless

Don't trust the recycled logo

When we attend industry events, it is always shocking to see how some companies and products use the traditional recycle symbol in marketing. There are times we’ve seen this logo applied to a non ‘green binder’, where it points out that some tiny percent of the chipboard used as the skeleton inside the toxic vinyl is recycled. The new ‘green binder’ now has a higher price and is marketed by the manufacturer as part of their green line.

Horse manure.

This logo has no oversight and has thus become saturated. Don’t trust it. When we see the logo, it makes us more skeptical than trusting.

The real measure of responsibility is the product it self. Take a few minutes to read the label. If it’s not obvious that the product is made from responsible materials and won’t end up in a landfill, then you, as a consumer, shouldn’t put much faith in the logo.

Some companies think consumers aren’t smart enough to do their own research. We disagree. Our customers hold us to account every day, and we thank them for it.

Here’s is the standard our customers expect from our products:

Anyone else stepping up to this plate, we commend you.

Dell Does Good on Packaging

Dell's compostable, FSC Certified Bamboo Packaging

We hope the days of Styrofoam packaging are behind us and we can look to industry leaders like Dell who care about their packaging. Last year, Dell replaced Styrofoam and plastic packaging that cushioned their laptops with molded pulp fiber. This year, they have added an FSC Certified Bamboo material that is fully compostable. Dell set some aggressive packaging goals in 2008 to reduce the amount of their packaging material by 10% and increasing the amount of post consumer recycled content by 40%. We commend them for their efforts.

Of course ReBinder knows a thing or too about FSC Certified Office Supplies and Compostable Products .