Our Roots

We pride ourselves on the fact that we pretty much invented our category: Earth-friendly Shipping Supplies.

A prototype for my first business --
not your Grandma's cloth diaper!

A wee-bit of background: before the birth of EcoEnclose, green shipping supplies were practically non-existent. I founded EcoEnclose after personally hunting for environmentally-sound packaging alternatives for years! You see this business isn’t my first venture. I kick-started my entrepreneurial career with a passion for green baby apparel. Believe it or not, my first company designed and manufactured modern baby cloth diapers. (YOU: {gasp!} ME: {chuckle!} Believe me, they are not what you think. I suggest you Google it -- these are diapers your Grandma only dreamt about!)

Anyhow, we were entirely blessed with overnight success and mailed oodles of shipments of cloth diapers every day. I celebrated our achievement, but I absolutely CRINGED at the shipping supplies we used. To reduce our company’s carbon footprint, we ensured all raw materials were painstakingly handpicked from local sources and all our manufacturing was done right here in Colorado. We even went so far as to line the entire south side of our warehouse roof with solar panels to produce our own electricity on site! I felt like everything about our process and product was as green as possible until -- duh-duh-dun – it was time to prepare the diapers for shipping. Yuck – cardboard boxes made from freshly axed trees?!? And plastic bags molded from newly extruded and refined petroleum!?! Sigh. Talk about pulling the plug on my eco-enthusiasm!

"If we can send a man to the moon,
we can develop earth-friendly shipping supplies!"

Every month that went by, I recoiled at the necessary task of replenishing our shipping room. Before restocking, I optimistically and tirelessly went on the hunt for something better. Each time I had the same disheartening result to my quest:  NADA. The same reply came back from the big packaging companies, “It’s not possible to create quality recycled packaging.” Wah, wah, wah. I remained undeterred and was unrelenting in my search. I repeatedly thought to myself, “How is it possible that we can send a man to the moon, yet eco-friendly shipping supplies remain in the ‘impossible’ list!?!” Ugh.


Fast forward and fate led me to step away from the diaper business. Thankfully, my son is happy and healthy today, but my poor baby boy had some serious health struggles during his first five years. And I was battling to find balance between business demands and the needs of my family. Lack of sleep at night and the intensity of my days started to take its toll on my health, as well. I sold the business and took a two year sabbatical from the entrepreneurial side of my being and concentrated my focus on recovery.

Lifting the overhead door to our Colorado warehouse.

When life settled down and I was ready to reawaken my entrepreneurial spirit, I decided to set out to crack that one ‘unsolvable’ quandary I had with the diaper business. I had looked high and low and asked all those in the know for earth-friendly shipping supplies, but no one could deliver. {drum roll} Ta-da! Meet EcoEnclose. Born out of my desire to be that solution for you! I hope you were searching for us the way that I was seeking out us several years back. Only, instead of coming up blank and dejected, you INSTANTLY found us! Hooray! Seriously…I am so glad we could check that “Find Eco-Shipping Supplies” box for you.

Please know that we are always here for you, in all our crunchy nerdiness--and in a constant state of intense eagerness--to share our exciting and uniquely green shipping solutions with you! In exchange, please share our existence with the companies you do business with. Let them know that alternatives to standard shipping products have arrived!

Yep – {insert dusting of hands here} -- what was once deemed ‘impossible’ can now be put in the ATTAINED column, right next to ‘space travel’. Well…ok…maybe a few rows down from ‘space travel’.

Happy shipping!
Erin Kimmett
Lead Eco-Geek
EcoEnclose.com

Operations Director, Dave, commutes to work each day by bike to reduce his carbon footprint.

How Garbage Changed My Life

Grocery shopping. It's one of my favorite things to do. Although considered a chore to most, I truly enjoy my weekly shopping trips to the store where I restock my inventory of fresh fruits, vegetables and staple pantry items. I weave through the aisles picking out my favorite treats and occasionally stumble upon new gems.

About three years ago, I became more aware of how much packaging goes into everyday items at the store. This awareness was due to the fact that I entered a new career in the packaging industry and was exposed to the background of manufacturing and production. Ironically, I also drove past a garbage facility every morning on my way to the office pleasantly named Monarch Hill. Everyone in town knows this hill and most don't think much about it. Some even consider it a nice addition to the flat landscape of South Florida. One morning on my drive, the pungent odor from the landfill made me think about what this enormous "mountain" was actually made of, GARBAGE. I immediately reflected on my own consumption and daily habits. I didn't recycle, I bought whatever items I needed or wanted without thinking about the packaging and my garbage can was always full. I knew I had to make a change and I wanted to see how much improvement I was making along the way.

Looks can be deceiving.  Mount Trashmore (aka Monarch Hill) continuously releases objectionable odor, high levels of mercury emissions, and threatens to contaminate drinking water.

This led to a simple experiment in which I collected all of my garbage for two weeks (not including compostable waste) to get a visual of what I was actually throwing away without a thought of the environment. My bin filled up quickly and guilt was setting in - cans, bottles, plastic clam shells, paperboard boxes and most of all plastic shopping bags. It was a mess, but I was determined to make a change. What I realized is that I was shopping for convenience which leads to more unnecessary packaging materials AND just about all of it was recyclable! On the final day of my experiment, I vowed to end my old ways by shopping differently and start recycling. I questioned my habits and why I never recycled to begin with. I recall learning about it during my studies, but never put it into practice within my personal life.

The very first thing I did was eliminate the use of plastic grocery bags. I also began to think about what I was buying and why I was buying it. For example, did I really need to buy carrots in a bag or pre-chopped onions? Or, what about those shrink wrapped potatoes?! These items were not only unnecessary for me but they also cost more. It was all finally making sense; I could save money and the environment! My new start on recycling now posed a temporary issue - my community didn't offer a recycling service. I embarked on a mission to find where I could take my items and dispose of them properly. Timing could not have been better; my mother's community began a new program where every house received a large recycling bin that would be picked up once a week. The experiment of collecting my garbage was becoming a daily task. Many of my friends thought it was crazy that I was filling my car trunk and driving across two towns just to drop off my recycled items. Although it may have seemed like a lot of effort for a small cause, it was a big deal to me.

Today, I continue to educate myself and improve my habits daily. I no longer use items such as disposable water bottles, plastic utensils, plastic bags - and I even make my own laundry detergent! My mindset and overall lifestyle has changed for the better and I enjoy continuously sharing and learning new tips for a greener life. What green habits do you practice?

Stephanie Morales is a self-proclaimed 'packaging nerd'.  Needless to say, she fits right in as the newest team member at EcoEnclose.

EcoEnclose :: An overdue intro & behind the scenes look!

Several years ago--when the concept of having an EcoEnclose blog was first conceived--I was entirely stumped on how to begin. I had my:

• blog account set-up ☑

• my template in place ☑

• and my fancy-schmancy logo uploaded ☑

But as I sat at my keyboard, fingers stretched and in position to commence -- physically primed to create my first post! -- out came nada, nil, ziltch, nyet, nein, non, zero:  the fingers didn't move; an acute case of Paralysis Bloggospherium!  So I did what any stage befrightened first-time blogger would do in my shoes, er, flip-flops:  I Googled "HOW TO MAKE A FIRST BLOG ENTRY". 

The article I read made it perfectly clear that, Gulp!, the first blog post may be the most important.

"It should accurately portray the intended tone and meticulously illustrate the blog's 'voice'."

And that this intentional inflection be carried on for all future posts. Duh-duh-duhn! "What!?! I'm doomed! What if everyone thinks my initial insight is inspirational-less, insipid, and insignificant? I can't perform under these conditions!"  Blogging performance anxiety ensued, followed by consumption of multiple caffeinated beverages.  Now my fingers were so jittery, as well as my mind, that when I started to type and all I could spell was 'EcoEnclose,' which took a full 5 minutes.  Ut-oh.  Next search "How to overcome writer's block."  Well, tomorrow is another day. 
So I placed the All-Important And Omnipotent First Blog on the back burner...gotta run a company, spend time with my wonderful kids, eat, sleep, contemplate subconsciously what to write, um...YIKES!  My outlook reminder in red indicated 144 weeks overdue. And so today I will write.

Voila!  The very first EcoEnclose blog post! Mostly about, well, how I procrastinated. But I did it! Just in time, too -- we just got done filming and editing our very first video production! -- which with all luck will not just entertain you, but provide a plethora of information about EcoEnclose, our eco-obsessions, and likewise give you a sneak peek at our top secret eco-operations. Kick back, relax, make yourself a bowl of organic, non-GMO, locally-grown, sustainably-packaged popcorn, and most of all, ENJOY! 

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Thank you for reading (our first post!) & watching (our first video!).  
Be sure to visit us today at www.ecoenclose.com