Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/666889
Nature's Packaging – The Nature's Packaging website (naturespackaging.org) was officially launched on March 1, 2016. The website is a direct response to coordinated campaigns that create a contrary message about the positive aspects of wood products. The website answers questions and provides tools that detail the sustainable, responsible and economical solutions that wood packaging and wooden pallets provide. The website also has an exciting new video that we hope you will use with your customers. The video was designed to capture and keep the attention of viewers to listen and watch important environmental messaging in a fun way. Visit Naturespackaging.org and let us know what you think. The work of The Pallet Foundation in 2016 also includes a significant expansion of work on the Pallet Design System™. Previous research funded the purchase of a large pressure mat to fully visualize the interaction between unit load and pallet. Further testing in laboratory and in customer's warehouses on a wide range of unit load types, pallet designs and support conditions allow us to model the interaction for use in PDS. The Pallet Foundation has also funded a full-time graduate student at Virginia Tech to further add to the body of research around wood pallets and unit load design. Dr. Brad Gething, NWPCA's Director of Science & Technology Integration, continues to travel to packaging schools across the country with the goal of elevating the wood packaging industry within the university community. He provides a preview of PDS to students while also sharing the positive environmental attributes of wood packaging materials. New collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Forest Service- Forest Products Laboratory on Environmental Product Declaration for wood pallets and work with Virginia Tech on the next pallet industry survey are just a few of the newly funded research projects. In total, more than $200,000 has been committed by the Foundation this year to improve research, inform the marketplace, and educate future packaging engineers on wood packaging's winning messages. It's a very exciting time for The Pallet Foundation as we work together to promote the positives of this industry. Thank you to all for the tremendous support. PC palletcentral.com PalletCentral • March-April 2016 43