Sustainable packaging options are being embraced by a number of food and beverage companies. But due to the global economic slowdown this sector faces its own challenges in economic sustainability. However despite facing new challenges, the $35 billion U.S. market for food and beverage packaging has enough opportunities to grow in sustainable packaging. This has been estimated according to a new report, “Sustainable Packaging Market for Food and Beverage Worldwide” from SBI Reports, on metal, paper, plastic, glass and flexible packaging for the food and beverage industries.

Facts from the report

• 43 % of containers and packaging generated in municipal solid waste were recycled in 2007.
• Despite the prices of many recycled products touched an all-time high in 2008, the downturn in the U.S. economy brought precipitous declines in recyclables pricing.
• Prices of some recyclable items fell as much as 90%. Cardboard and mixed paper prices fell from $105 a ton to just $25. Plastic bottles fell from 25 cents a pound to 2 cents. Aluminum can price fell from 80 cents a pound to 40 cents.
• The food and beverage packaging world market is about $310 billion, with the U.S., Europe and Asia accounting for 90 percent.

Paper: Paper and corrugated combined together creates the biggest recycling opportunity. At 83 million tons they make up 33 percent of U.S. municipal solid waste. The report says, containers and packaging comprised of 16 percent of all municipal waste, making 40 million tons. It includes 4 million tons of folding cartons, 500,000 tons of milk cartons, and 1.4 million tons of miscellaneous paper-based packaging. The export of $2.6 billion in recovered paper materials in 2008 shows an increment of 18% since 2004 while only $65 million of imports in recovered paper materials were recorded. Despite being minimal import, it grew 20 percent since 2004.

Metal: Steel and aluminum recycling continues to be the beneficial areas due to their low cost relative to new production. The report says that for each ton of recycled steel, 2.5 tons of iron ore and half a ton of coal is saved. While recycling of aluminum needs 95 percent less energy than production from raw materials. Recycling rates of aluminum peaked in 1997 at 67 percent, it had dropped to 50% by 2003. Now the rate has slightly increased, with 54 percent of aluminum cans being recycled. The Aluminum Association aims for 75 percent of all beverage cans to be recycled by 2015.

Glass: Glass is costly to transport, but its main benefit is that glass containers can be reused many times before recycling. Building insulation is the primary destination for recycled glass, which can contain up to 40 percent recycled glass. According to the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association, around 300,000 tons of recycled glass is used for producing thermal and acoustical insulation per year.

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Presenting someone sweet treats and special foods that he/she likes most is the perfect & delicious gift. Preparing such things generally don't pose problem. What creates the headache is its packaging and presentation?

You should keep in mind that since these gifts are eatable and meant to be consumed, you must do your best to keep the packaging appetizing, appealing, and sanitary looking.

• Never put the cookies together when they are warm, otherwise they stick and become distorted.
• In case you've made candies that are in pieces, take your time to wrap all pieces individually in it's own square of waxed paper.
• For wrapping try to avoid the colored food wraps, as they make the food look off.
• You can give bread into a tin or tray box or in decorated paper bags, put into a clear plastic bag.
• Stickier candies and treats such as barks and brittles should be layered with waxed paper so they do not form one big block of brittle.

If you have taken the time to cook up something special to give, you want it to look as scrumptious as it tastes. Here are some ideas on packaging your food gift from the kitchen.

• A number of amazingly shaped jars, bottles, packing boxes, and cruets are available, that are relatively inexpensive and add to the presentation of your gift from the kitchen.
• Adding proper tags to the gifts spells your love. You can purchase pretty packing labels & stickers to clearly specify your gift with the contents, usage and recommended shelf life. You can also make your own labels that look professional with the computer using downloadable labels.
• A number of inexpensive gift bags are available in the market. Most of them are plastic-coated that make them a perfect choice for moist foods. You can always add your own ideas and design to these bags. You can make a peek window in these bags by cutting out any shape from the side of the bag and taping plastic wrap to cover the openings.
• You can also use metal tins. They are available in different shapes, sizes, patterns, and colors.
• Before putting the goodies in it, you can give it some designing look by lining the edges with non-reactive colored tissue papers. One thing to be noted is that moist foods should be wrapped in cellophane or plastic wrap.
• Lidded clear plastic containers can also be used for packing foods and they are inexpensive too. They come in variety of colors. You can dress them up by gluing a paper skirt or fabric around the bottom.

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If you are a B2B direct marketer and your direct mail pieces are not getting the response you want, then it is the right time to think about the packaging in which you send your direct mail. Most of the messages and letters we send and want it to reach the right person doesn't happen due to a number of checks by the secretaries and staffs. So unless & until your direct mail lead generation postcard or letter or self-mailer stands out from the rest, it is tough to reach your potential client.

In such cases dimensional mailers are the most effective way to reach elusive prospects with your message. A dimensional mailer has more than two dimensions. Unlike postcard, envelopes & mailers or letter, it has three dimensions. Mostly they are boxes, but can also be sturdy envelopes having something three-dimensional inside.

A major advantage with three dimensional mailers is that they look very important in their box or tube and manage to get past receptionists and are hardly seen as junk mail. They help you to stand out in the lot of mailers and envelopes. You can do many other things with your dimensional mailer, such as tying up some marketing materials, like your business cards.

Dimensional mail stands out from the rest so it is effective. It differs from the rest of the mails that the executive is receiving that day. It is almost guaranteed that dimensional mail always gets opened.

A dimensional mailer need not have to be a box only. It can be anything that is not flat. Boxes and mailing tubes are the two most common dimensional mailer and both are regulated for postage by the world's most postal services. Though they will cost you more to ship but they are likely to get a higher response rate.

The good thing with dimensional mailer boxes is that you can print any design you want on them, which will help you attract more attention to it. Most of the people are more likely to open dimensional mailers because it feels like they are opening a present. Now what to put in the box that attracts the receiver to read that. In the most simple way, you can send a sample of your product or something that makes noise or plays music.

The lone and biggest downside with dimensional mailers is that they are expensive and cost you so much to mail. That's why you should only send them to a small target market. You should keep in mind that the target market should be potential customers that are very well-qualified and likely to do business with you.

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Home painting is not everyone's cup of tea. But all of us should give it a try because it gives immense pleasure while doing so. Here are some useful tips that would help you give your walls a proper finish.

Do the preparation

• The very first thing you need to do is to wash down all the walls, which you want to paint. You can take the help of a pressure washer. It can be taken on rent from any store. After completing the washing process, take a scraper and remove all the chipped areas and loose paintings. No need to scrap the whole wall. But the uneven areas need to scraped as they create problems while painting.
• Next thing to do is to calculate the area of the wall by square footage so that you can determine the amount of paint required. Buy paint in 5-gallon pails, rather than gallons to save more money.

Collect your tools

• You will need painting brushes and rollers during painting. What type and how many brushes you need can be best decided by consulting your local paint store. For oil based paints, you can opt for natural or synthetic bristles, while you can use synthetic bristles with latex paint. The same rule applies while selecting rollers.
• Don't forget to purchase some painter’s tape. It is a blue tape that comes in different widths and can be easily removed without messing up your paint job.

Precautions before applying

• Don't start painting out of the paint cans. Because during painting it will remain open and come in contact with air, that would dry it out, thus making the paint difficult to apply. Also the brush or roller will take foreign particles like dirt into the paint that will enter your paint and can change the color as you go long.
• Painting should be started from the edge of the wall and move towards the middle. Most of us do just opposite and face problems. If you start painting with a new can of paint in the middle of the wall, then there are chances of differences in the color and that will look more prominent in the middle of the wall. Therefore with each new can of paint, start painting from the edges.
• Before starting painting, dip you roller in water for latex paints and in solvent for oil based paints. Either you use a pan or a 5-gallon bucket, roll it out a little to make sure it isn’t dripping. You don’t need to go all the way from the top to the bottom as you paint.

How you should apply?

• It is good to apply the paint in a N or Y pattern. Then apply in columns up and down smoothing out all the edges or ridges. Don’t try to stretch the paint, and make sure you have enough amount of paint on the paint roller to give it a good coat. In case of applying more than one coat, the first coat should be completely dry before applying a new coat of paint.
• It is always difficult to paint the corners. If you are careless you light see paint dripping from corners later. Get close to the corners but but don’t scrape the roller against the corner. It will cause drips. Always keep a paintbrush ready for taking care of any drips or ridges you leave behind. It is better to do this rather than trying to fix it later.

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The plastics have been able to dominate the packaging industry especially food & beverage, pharmaceuticals, agricultural & industrial and health & beauty. The glass and metallic bottles and caps have been replaced slowly but steadily by their plastic counterparts. Also the plastic bottles and closures are gaining popularity as they are light weight, convenient to use, and easy on the pocket.

Recently some innovation have been seen in the caps & closures segment. Read Changing Trends in Caps & Closures Industry. New technologies have enabled manufacturers to produce plastic caps fitting on glass and metallic bottles. The usability of caps differ from product to product. A cap for a carbonated soft drink should have the ability to retain CO2 for longer time. The market of caps and closures is explicitly divided in two segments: standardized and customized caps & closures. Mineral water, beer, and CSD products use standardized caps made of material that meet requirements like ease of opening, easy processing, good performance on the filling line, etc.

Like all other industries, the current economic slowdown has affected it too, lowering the consumption that will further hit the development. But still this industry has not so much reasons to worry as new sectors are opening doors for it. For example pharma industry, which still use lot of glass and metallic materials is now shifting to PET bottles. The increasing acceptance of organized retail formats have made the shelf appeal of of the products more crucial, demanding new, designer and trendy caps & closures along with bottles and containers. Leading manufacturers & suppliers of packing supplies.

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Without having right tools you can't perform work efficiently and specially if you are doing the home cleaning. A house cannot be properly cleaned without good housecleaning tools. Cleaning tools are specifically designed for separate stages of the housecleaning process. Here we have listed some basic home cleaning tools that are needed in all homes.

Sponges
Sponges are common cleaning tools consisting of porous material. They are generally used for cleaning impervious surfaces. They are excellent absorbers of water and water-based solutions. Sponges are generally made from foamed plastic polymers or cellulose wood fibers. Natural sponges are pretty environmentally friendly.


Squeegee
Squeegee is an important cleaning tool with a flat, smooth rubber blade that is used to remove or control the flow of liquid on flat surfaces. Window squeegee is the most popular that removes the cleaning fluid or water from the glass surface. After applying the soapy solution, which acts as a lubricant and breaks up the dirt, the squeegee draws the now water-borne dirt off the glass giving a neat & perfectly clean surface. It can also be used around the house during spring cleaning time as well.

Mop
Mop are home cleaning tools in which a textile is mounted on a handle. They are generally used for cleaning floors. It is advised not to go after cheap mops. Invest a bit extra and buy a good one. You should look into microfiber mops, which use reusable microfiber cloth pads that can be soaked in a cleaning solution prior to use and dropped into a separate bin when soiled.

Hand Gloves
While dealing with home cleaning, we use a number of cleaning chemicals that are quite hazardous for our skin specially our hands. So use rubber gloves and protect your hands. Generally we people don't take much care of our hands and avoid it. In that case our hands come in contact with harmful chemicals and affect it.



Cleaning Cloths
Cleaning clothes are important accessories that we use while cleaning your home. You can find a large range of cleaning cloths in the market, some of which claim to be anti-bacterial or super-absorbent. Most of cleaning cloths are made of terry cloth, a cotton cloth with innumerable loops which make it very absorbent. Now-a-days microfiber cloths have become very popular, which promise superior cleaning action. They do so due to the presence of the millions of tiny fibres which trap dirt.

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If you are a DIY enthusiast and do the repairing and maintenance work regularly then you must have come across situations where you would have felt dizzy on what type of adhesive or sealants are suitable for which applications. No worries now! This article will tell you in detail the must have types of adhesives and glues and the materials on which they should be applied on.

White glue is the most common adhesive that is used for the most general applications. White glue works best for things like paper and fabric. However it is necessary to keep in mind that it is not waterproof. It is generally found in regular and washable varieties. The washable variety is good for kids working on school projects.

Glue gun is quite an useful tool for small home repairs specially craft activities. Glue gun offers you the advantage of applying the exact desired amount of glue, as needed in various craft related repairing. It can also be used to repair jewelry, pottery and various other materials. Glue gun is an essential commodity in every household tool collection.

Epoxy glue is generally used when you require a very strong bond. It is an amazing multi-purpose glue that can be used in a range of applications. Epoxy glue comes as two separate solutions, which must be mixed in appropriate proportions to attain the maximum strength. Unlike ordinary glues that sticks by drying, epoxy glue make bonds by chemical reaction that assures its strength. One can use epoxy adhesives on ceramic, metal and other hard surfaces.

Plumber's adhesives or sealants are used for various types of plumbing problems. It can be used for fixing smaller leakages around sinks or faucets and other plumbing fixtures.

If you want a glue for simple woodworking or wood repairs then carpenter's wood-glue would be best for such works. Wood glue grabs fast and creates a strong bond between pieces of wood. It is also wonderful for applying molding and trim.

If you are going to repair a simple glass break, use glass adhesive. Glass adhesives can be used for all types of glass items. They provide incredible bonding strength, are reliable and weatherproof. It is important to note that they may not hold up in the dishwasher.

Contact cement is a wonderful adhesive for bonding countertops, veneers, to cabinets. It works well with most of the these materials plastics, glass, metal, rubber, and leather. It is specially applied on the objects that are difficult to clamp together. Using contact cement is a little tricky so one should read the manufacturer's instructions carefully before using.

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While planning a kitchen makeover, most of your budget goes to the cabinets. So it is really worthy to give some time to select appropriate types of cabinets for your kitchens that suits your budgets, your health as well as the environment. The traditional materials used in the manufacturing of kitchen cabinets have now being replaced with green and environment friendly materials. Just read on to find what type of kitchen cabinets you should avoid and what to choose?

Avoid the Hazardous Traditional Cabinets
The traditional cabinets leach harmful gases in your kitchen that is harmful for you and your family's health. It might sound absurd but it is totally true. Most of kitchen cabinets boxes are made from the use of particle board or fiber board, which in turn is created from a urea formaldehyde resin which is a well known carcinogen. This substrate out gases formaldehyde all the time in the surrounding and pollute the breathable air. When this emission comes in contact with any heat source, it becomes more concentrated and toxic when released. Now you can imagine the number of appliances that generate heat and are placed by the side of your cabinets. Traditional cabinets made of particle board are quite hard to update and fix.

Adopt Green Kitchen Cabinets
Now more number of people are preferring green cabinets over conventional cabinets because green cabinets do not release toxic gases into the air. Though the resources available for eco-friendly cabinets are still meager but alternative materials that are less harmful in effect can also be used. By selecting a green kitchen cabinets means you are opting for cabinets that don't pollute indoor air quality and place a strain on the environment. Before buying a green cabinet from a cabinet manufacturer you should ask for a third party certification that ensures that their products are free from formaldehyde and created with no or low VOC's.

Green Materials for Kitchen Cabinets
You can ask for cabinet boxes made with wheat board or straw board. Wheat board is the remnants of the straw waste left over from farmers' wheat crops. It is formaldehyde free and it provides the desired strength and durability according to the set standards. Thus wheat board cabinet boxes not only give toxins free environment, it also makes good use of recycling an organic waste product that would otherwise be disposed of.

Plywood boxes are a better option. Though it is a bit expensive but you don't update your kitchen cabinets regularly so you will have to take it as a long time investment, say 10 years. When you distribute that little extra expense in 10 years span and compare it to the impact on your health by the use of traditional cabinets, you will find it much worthy.

The most popular and common material for green kitchen cabinets is bamboo. Bamboo appeals to the eye, is quite durable, and is also rapidly renewable. Bamboo is a popular choice for environmentalists as it can mature in less than half the time the hardwood trees take to reach market size.

The amount of wood used in your kitchen cabinet depends on what type yo choose. Most of the cabinet doors have at least some solid core, and it differs depending on the styles you choose. Older kitchen cabinets are made from solid wood so people using them are now trying to discard them, thereby removing the threat of particle board problems. For those who can't afford green kitchen cabinets, sanding, staining and refinishing with a no or low VOC finish can be a wise decision. There are a number of optional choices, more than ever before.

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Hardware and software both are the integral components of computer systems. Software is taking precedence over hardware these days because hardware may not enlist as many jobs as software does currently due to the need and advances in software technology compared to hardware technology. However hardware cannot be eliminated completely. Trends keep changing according to the advancement of technology and requirement of users. In recent time, the laptop segment has seen some significant changes in hardware section. Let's see what are the new trends in laptop hardware.

CD drives are no longer an essential equipment for PC laptops and neither the seventeen inch laptop screens. An average user does not need as many programs that comes with most computers, so some companies such as Asus' EeePc product is coming with reasonably priced products. Network attached storage devices will be a new advancement that would permit to store large media files that can be wirelessly transferred onto external hard drives. Most PC companies are slicing costs and trying to lure new ethnic groups into computer owners.

Storage: The storage capacity of hard drives have been continuously increasing, and the likes of terabyte notebooks have already been launched. The enlarge capacity has been taken with both hands by the consumers but it still isn't the most exciting trend in notebook hard drives. Shift from HDDs to SSDs, means from hard disk drives to solid state drives, have been the most significant development. A SSD lacks the moving parts as found in traditional hard drive, which makes it excellently fast, have a longer lifetime, and run much cooler. However the solid state drives are quite costly. A 2.5-inch 16GB SATA SSD hard drive costs around $450, while a comparable 2.5-inch 250GB SATA traditional HDD costs $140. In other way, you would have to pay $28/GB for SSD and $0.56/GB for traditional HDD.

Optical Drives: The intense competition between Blu-ray and HD-DVD might seem to be ended. After the announcement of Warner Bros to go with Blue-ray camp, the sale of Blu-ray players has left HD-DVD units far behind.

Screen: Color depth and higher resolution has been the on the top priority in the evolution of laptop screens. OLED displays on laptops is the most exciting trend that we would see in recent future. Sony recently showed off many OLED monitors. Though the cost is gigantic ($2,500), but the promising fact is that Sony is able to build and sell such a brightly lit screen with an amazing contrast (1,000,000:1). The cost is likely to come down to realistic levels in future, and we may one day see such kind of display in our notebook.

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No thing can provide more comfort, after a hectic day workout, than relaxing in your Jacuzzi tub. And it would be a slicing on cake if available at home. You can install a jacuzzi with the help of an expert or you can do it at your own. Installing a jacuzzi is not an easy task and needs to be minutely taken care of for a number of things. A number of things needs to be determined before purchasing a jacuzzi. But we will not mention those points here. In this article, we will tell you what important things should be looked after while installing a jacuzzi.

1. Make the Floor Leveled: The floor at which the Jacuzzi bathtub is to be installed should be properly leveled. If the floor is uneven by a bit, you need to level the area in order to sit the tub. In case of uneven floor level you may run into lot of troubles, such as malfunctioning of drainage system and jets. The floor should be strong enough to support the weight of tub. Your floor needs to be able to support 150 lbs. per square foot.

2. Make a Stable Ground: The Jacuzzi bathtub is a heavy item even when it is empty. When filled with water and loaded with few person, it can go to almost 200 pounds per square foot. So the base area of the floor on which the Jacuzzi will rest should be made solid and stable. You need to pour one to two inch of thick layer of cement or mortar to support such huge weights.

3. Make a Supporting Frame: The bathtub should be supported along the entire length of the bottom and the rim. So the area supporting the bathtub should be framed. Some Jacuzzi units come along with frames. If the tub that you purchase is not pre-framed then either you can hire a carpenter to develop a frame or you can buy a ready made frame suiting your unit. It is important to remember that the frame should have an access panel to reach to the motor and pump in case of maintenance. Usually the bathtub manufacturers include the dimensions for the supporting enclosure.

4. For Wiring Contact an Experienced Electrician: Until and unless you are a certified electrician, you should not go for the electrical wiring part of Jacuzzi's installation. Working with plumbing & electricity can be tricky business and even most experienced DIY homeowners opt for the services of a professional electrician or an experienced plumber or a general contractor with experience in Jacuzzi installation. Such type of work involves electricity in close proximity to water, the risk is pretty much enhanced.

5. You need to clean the construction area to remove all residues. Then you should check that all connections and fittings are secured. Fill the tub with water above the jets and check for leaks. The jets should be run for at least 15 minutes and check if any problem occurs fix it before closing the area.

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According to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the typical U.S. home can waste up to 11,000 gallons of water per year only through household leaks. So we should pay attention to conserve this increasingly scarce resource. Here are some very useful tips to check out the leakages in your home plumbing system.

1. A Look at Water Meter: Observing your water meter can help you identify the leakages. What you need to do is to stop using water for two hours, and check the water meter before and after that period. If the meter reading fluctuates even a little bit, then you might have a leak in your plumbing system.

2. Check the Water Bill: You need to look at the water bills for the two months of the year. Say January and February, as they are the coldest months and water usage is minimum during this period. If you are a family of four member and the consumption is more than 12,000 gallons a month that means there are some serious leaks.

3. Toilet Leakages: Toilets are the common places where leaks generally happen. To identify any leaks in toilet tank, put a drop of food coloring in it and watch for some time. If the color shows up in the bowl before you flush that indicates there is some leak. The most common reason of a toilet leak is a worn out valve seal, also known as toilet flapper. Flappers are rubber parts that can decay over time and build up minerals. They are inexpensive and replacing them might sole your leakage problems.

4. Look for Leaky Faucets: Leaky faucets are one of the most common leaking causes. It is always recommended to solve such problems with your plumber. The reason behind this is that some faucets are too old to be found in the stores, and they are almost impossible to remove without painful effort. Even if you are ready to give it a try, make sure that you buy the correct replacement.

5. Leaking Showerheads: Showerheads cause big leakage problems. Leaky showerheads can be fixed by ensuring that there is a tight connection between the pipe stem and the showerhead. One can use pipe tape to secure it. Also known as Teflon tape, pipe tapes can be found on any hardware store. It is easy to apply and can help tame unruly leaks. Another thing that needs to be taken care of is to check the washer or O-ring inside the showerhead.

6. Check the Outdoor Leaks: The in-ground irrigation system needs to be checked if you have one. You should check it each spring prior to use and make sure that it wasn't damaged by frost or freezing. Check your garden hose for leaks at its connection to the spigot. If it leaks while you run your hose, replace the nylon or rubber hose washer and ensure a tight connection to the spigot using pipe tape and a wrench.

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