As managing editor of Alpha Packaging Inc., a St. Louis-based blow molder, has joined the blog trend with a nice Web site called Alpha's "Message in a Bottle." The site has been live since February. The post master is none other than company President Dave Spence.
The blog is hitting some very good topics. The most recent: environmental issues, and how the plastics packaging sector should respond.
It’s the great green way this year as the latest buzzword in packaging becomes “sustainability.” Giant retailers like Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club and grocery store chains seem to be prominently leading the charge toward reducing and recycling packaging worldwide. In addition, sustainable packaging coalitions are springing up spearheaded by large corporations like Nike and Coca Cola. In January, the IoPP Sustainable Packaging Task Group had their first meeting.For me, someone who deals every day with the realities of running the business, I’m always looking at what we can do to expand, to grow, to produce more bottles. Now, many of us will be challenged with reducing. That means reducing many things, including the amount of shipping pallets and corrugated we use, and the actual material weight of the bottles and jars we make.
Spence adds that he expects "more customers to jump on the sustainability band wagon," and he invites readers to comment on how manufacturers and distributors can adapt to the "sustainable" business model.
This looks like a good blog to bookmark. It will be interesting to see if it generates enough traffic to "sustain" the Web site, and to keep Spence involved.