North Star Packaging would like to welcome Rudi's Organic Bakery to our family of clients. Rudi's organic breads and gluten-free breads are absolutely, positively "baked on the bright side!"

For those of you that haven't tried Rudi's products yet, learn  more about how you can make conscious buying decisions on bakery products at www.RudisBakery.com

And if you have been enjoying Rudi's products for many years like we have, stay on the look out for new bread products rolling out now and in the the coming year. There's no shortage of wholesome, tasty goodness coming from Rudi's!

Eat well and enjoy!

Aiming for the "bright spots"
by Mary Huron Hunter

Not a day goes by when I don't encounter someone who's worried, stressed out or suffering in some way. I, myself, have moments of this as a hardworking mother and businesswoman trying to make my way in the world.

Truly, my genuine tendency is to think and act on the bright side, even when I'm facing some of life's more difficult challenges. I really am optimistic and believe that no matter what happens, everything will be all right; that living in this truth and in this light attracts abundance and fosters well-being.   

That's why when I read a recent article written by life coach, author and Harvard PhD sociologist, Martha Beck, I felt validated.

Beck references Chip and Dan Heath's book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard.  In Switch, the Heaths describe how masters of change create miraculously positive results. 

One key is looking for what the authors call "bright spots" in every situation, no matter how difficult.  Beck says that change experts like the Heaths assure that this, not doom and gloom prognostications, will help all of us be part of the positive change we want to see in the world.

Here's the exercise Beck recommends:

"Right now, think of something about your life that is troubling you, something you want to change.  It might be a child who is not doing well, a business that is in the red, an underwater mortgage. As you start to make the list, you'll find the bright spots start to pop out more and your negative judgments fade."

Beck believes that in that very moment, we have begun "feeding" our attention to a situation we want instead of a situation we don't want. 

"Attention is a powerful nutrient.  It amplifies and accelerates the situations on which it is focused," she says. "Now think of a second problematic situation.  Find the bright spots there.  Make this a practice whenever you feel yourself growing anxious or angry.  Try this for a month.  If you don't like the results, go back to looking at the dark spots."

Shortly after Beck decided to try this practice, she met a hockey player in an airport.  After chatting for awhile he shared, "When you're trying to score a goal, never ever look at the goalie.  Look at the spaces around the goalie, no matter how small they might be.  Where your eyes go, the puck goes." 

When she boarded the plane, she sat down beside a kayaker.  As they chatted, the kayaker told her, "When you're in the rapids, never look at the rocks.  Look at the water around the rocks, no matter how small it may seem.  Where your eyes go, the boat goes." 

I, myself, remember my first skiing lessons years ago where the instructor instructed me to point my eyes down the mountain in the direction I wanted to go and, voila! My skis were sure to follow.

The point in all of this is that our lives follows our attention and our intention.  Wherever we look and want to go, we end up going.

That's why both Beck and I believe that as we practice the "bright spots" exercise, our lives will start heading in happier more productive directions. Our relationships will be more relaxed and less contentious as we begin enjoying each others' positive attributes. Our customers will be drawn to the energy of a business based on positivity and optimism.   

The world is full of dark spots. We all know that and certainly want to change them when we can.  But where our attention goes, the world, and everything in it, eventually goes. 

So our assignment is to keep the negatives in our peripheral vision, on the outskirts of our focus, while putting our full attention on joy, kindness, love and peace. 

With this kind of hope and cheer in our hearts, minds and lives, we become the agents of restoration for everything we desire to change.

And what does all this have to do with boxes, you might ask? Everything and nothing at all! The point is that we are all humans sharing this human experience, no matter what kind of package it comes in! And to me, that is the brightest spot...

As if it weren't expensive enough to run a business, the increase in the price of paper in 2010 really hit hard here at home and across the country.....

Containerboard prices hiked an average of $60 per ton and were implemented three different times in 2010 by major U.S. paper producers. Despite persistently weak demand, leading producers raised prices due to tight supplies and increasing costs of fiber.

Prices of old corrugated containers and pulp also rose last year on lean inventories with supply/demand issues favoring producers. Other factors included high energy costs and the loss of the black liquor subsidies from the government which ended in 2009.

The supply chain has been extremely tight as a result of capacity closures, strong exports, lean inventories and disruptions due to bad weather.

It is rumored that paper prices have hit their ceiling for now and will be forced to come down in 2011.

That's where North Star Packaging steps up and extends that decrease to our customers. Whenever the price of paper comes down, we adjust our prices across the board.

Not only that, but we will always work to support our customers' desire to keep costs down by evaluating the best price options regularly and when inevitable future paper price increases happen.

Plus, we are constantly working with our suppliers to explore new corrugated products that might better fit the desire for more environmentally-sound choices.

So when you find yourself in the box shopping game, give us a call....we'll help you find your right price!

Boulder, Colo…..As part of its ongoing effort to influence the corrugated buying habits of Colorado product manufacturers and distributors, North Star Packaging has announced today that all of its ECT 32 100% recycled corrugated boxes will be made from 100% post-consumer waste. Formerly, North Star offered 100% recycled corrugated content that was made of a mix of post-consumer waste and scraps from box manufacturing process.

“We are pleased that our suppliers continue to seek ways to provide sustainable materials that better meet our customer’s needs and desires for environmental integrity,” said Mary Huron Hunter, owner of North Star Packaging. “Being able to offer 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper greatly increases our capacity to forge ahead in our movement to offer kinder, gentler packaging options in the marketplace.”

The 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper must pass the same edge and crush testing (ECT) as any other box on the market, including virgin and partially-recycled fiber boxes.

“Not only does the product do the job it’s designed to, our 100% post-consumer waste recycled boxes can be comparable in price to non- or partially-recycled equivalent boxes,” Hunter said.

It's one thing to say you're "green" or to jump on the environmental/social bandwagon to earn a buck. It's altogether another thing to truly live sustainably - body, mind and spirit -- operating from integrity and honesty and with loyalty and devotion to the cause at all times.

At North Star Packaging, we are more than just a box company. We are a family. We are a movement. We are champions of the environment and the social fabric of our communities. We are conscious, mindful and true to ourselves, our brand and our customers. We are personally committed to what we're doing or we wouldn't spend one single moment of our precious lives doing it.

And we choose our customers as much as our customers choose us. We do this because we invest in our customers, their brands, and their values in an effort to help them grow and prosper. We work with companies that share our desire to be authentic and to make a difference in our world every day through the products and services they provide and the causes they stand for. We treat our customers like members of our family through deep listening, timely responsiveness, excellent customer service and with the spirit of teamwork, collaboration and a healthy respect for and attention to balancing sustainability with the bottom line.

When we see an opportunity that benefits our customers, we pass it along. This includes:

· passing along cost savings when the price of paper goes down;

· evaluating the best price options when the price of paper goes up;

· providing information on new corrugated products that might better fit a company's needs;

· sharing the media spotlight;

· circulating news and other company info on our social media and web pages;

· attending our customers' events and celebrations;

· showing up for our customers in good times and in bad; and

· celebrating their successes with an acknowledgment of the hard work it takes to truly make it in today's world.

North Star Packaging is tried and true, through and through, believing in what we do and how we serve each and every day. It's simply who we are.

North Star Packaging is not the only company trying to change the world of packaging into a kinder, gentler, more sustainable place.

The folks at Justin's Nut Butter have started a crusade to green up the packaged food industry and promote compostable options. Check out www.leastyoucando.org to learn about simple ways you can make your voice heard and make a difference in how companies package their products.

We've joined their movement and continue to work on our own, encouraging Colorado product distributors and manufacturers to use more sustainable corrugated boxes.

It's the least we can do!