Posted on October 5, 2011 by Michael Boik

A Green Packaging Solution to Eliminate Box Flap Quarter Folding

no quarter foldingIt easily fits into your hand and weighs less that an ounce but is in our opinion a legitimate sustainable packaging innovation because it extends box life and enables boxes to be reused. It is inexpensive and can itself be reused over and over again, thus saving countless boxes and, yes, saving trees. It is the Globe Guard® Reusable Box Sealer™ and it also ends a somewhat crude and very wasteful practice of quarter folding the top flaps of a typical corrugated RSC style box.

What is quarter folding?

Quarter folding is when you fold each of the four top flaps of a box in half so you can bend and tuck them under each other to temporarily hold a box closed. Quarter folding conveniently permits easy open and close capability without tape, staples or adhesives but unfortunately it also weakens the box, accelerating its premature demise.

We are all guilty of quarter folding a box at one time or another, even at home. Usually, we do it for convenience or simply do not have tape immediately available. The box we quarter fold may contain tax records, rarely watched DVDs, photos or even seasonal clothing. What all these quarter-folded boxes have in common is that when you put them away, you know at some point you will have to go back into the box to retrieve the contents or perhaps even add to them. That is why a more permanent box closure method like tape or glue is NOT desirable.

Temporary Box Sealer Use and Reuse

Eliminating Quarter Folding is Just One Way to Use the GGRBS at Work

Our Reusable Box Sealer™ demonstration video on our new Reusable Packaging Options web site shows how easy it is to use the Globe Guard® Reusable Box Sealer™. But the better question for most people is, how and when can it be utilized? Here are a few possible scenarios:

  • Any time the product packed within a box is only going to be contained temporarily
  • Whenever repeated access to add or remove product is necessary
  • Whenever you want to reuse a corrugated RSC box and prefer to avoid using tape to seal it
  • When stock in an open box has to be kept clean
  • Whenever any box is “temporarily” sealed in any manner
  • And of course, any time your people are quarter folding boxes

Those applications can also be described as: packing and unpacking for secondary operations, DC to retail store fulfillment, inventory control and supply chain management, sealing of RSC style reusable plastic containers, and moving/storage. Those are all real business situations where the above potential circumstances might apply, and the GGRBS can help reduce costs.

It’s Like Installing a Zipper on Every RSC Box!

OK, it may not be quite as convenient and easy as a zipper, but it’s pretty darn close and it is much more versatile. The Globe Guard® Reusable Box Sealer™ is a stock item and available on our Globe Guard® web store.

As always, please contact us if you have any questions about our newest Globe Guard product.

Related blog post:

Globe Guard® Products.com Adds Reusable Box Sealer™ to New, Reusable Packaging Product Group

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