Hi, my name is Kiry Galapir. I joined HPPA at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park in 2007, just before an eruption of Kīlauea Volcano!
I began as a sales staff member, and dedicated 10 years to assisting visitors and promoting park-related products. I now hold the position of E-commerce Specialist and Wholesale Representative for HPPA. I manage sales and customer service activities “behind the scenes”, focusing on e-commerce operations and wholesale partnerships. When you place an online order, I am the one who makes sure you get your package.
Here’s a walk-through of the order fulfillment process at the HPPA online warehouse:
- Coffee Time: I kickstart my morning with a fresh cup of coffee to fuel me for the day ahead.
- Order Prep: When orders come in from our awesome online customers, I swing into action. Printing out packing slips, I head to the inventory.
- Pack It Up: With care, I pack the items using our stash of reusable packing materials, making sure everything is snug and secure for the journey. Each package gets a label with the customer's shipping details, and I double-check the shipping service.
- Mail run: With everything packed up, I take a quick trip to our local post office, ensuring our customers' orders are on their way in no time.
This keeps our customers happy and their orders sailing smoothly to their doorsteps!
I always pack orders with care, making certain that the correct items and quantities are sent. I try to minimize waste when packing orders by repurposing packing materials received from our vendors.
Our wonderful sales team sets aside bags for me filled with reusable packing materials from incoming vendor orders. These can be reused if they are clean and free from contaminants. Storing this stuff can take up a lot of space, but our people know how valuable it is for our online shipping. I think it’s a win-win situation to be able to reuse these materials and save costs in the process.
I've received positive feedback from customers regarding my packing methods, and it's truly appreciated. It's reassuring to know that their purchases are arriving safely and intact.
Certainly, there are always opportunities for further improving the sustainability of my packing practices. I am considering some alternative packing ideas that are more sustainable or eco-friendly, like switching to all-sustainable/eco-friendly packaging and shipping supplies, and reducing packaging size to minimize empty space and the overall volume of packing material.
I haven't yet shared our commitment to sustainable packing practices with our customers. However, once we're fully committed to transitioning to sustainable packaging, I intend to include an insert with each order. It will highlight our efforts to minimize environmental impact through our packing practices.
If you see the opportunity to save and reuse packing materials, go for it! Remember, even small sustainable changes can have a big impact!
