I saw this
article recently in Converting Magazine. A new study by the Freedonia
Group found that "U.S. demand for protective packaging is forecast to climb 6.2
percent per year to $5.2 billion in 2014." Even MORE packaging? <Sigh.> A
few highlights from the article:
"Demand for air pillows will climb 8.7 percent per
year… [as a] result of strong growth in Internet shopping, advantages over
other materials in terms of cost and material use, and consumer preference for
the product over other materials such as loose-fill."
<Hm.>
"Demand for bubble packaging will be aided by
favorable outlooks for manufacturing activity and electronic shopping."
<Ugh.>
"Molded pulp will experience some
of the fastest gains… as a result of heightened interest in environmentally
friendly packaging…[and] prospects for paper fill and biodegradable loose-fill
will be helped by growing interest in environmentally friendly packaging."
Well good! If there has to be more, at least a growing
percentage of it is designed with the environment in mind. We can't just keep
pumping more non-biodegradable packaging into our landfills, especially when
there are more sustainable alternatives out there…like our bamboo
packaging. 
It's an exciting, sustainable alternative. It grows super
fast (up to two feet a day), promotes healthy soil and has a tensile strength
greater than steel (!), making it great for protecting our cute little Inspiron
Mini 10s in transit. And we'll be packaging more products in bamboo this
year. Stay tuned…
What packaging innovations are you excited about? Please
share. I'm a bit of a packaging geek these days…