Greetings Everyone! I'm Rich Cohen, the trailblazer behind Elevate Packaging, established back in 2000.

The journey began with an enlightening year-long sabbatical in 1999 following more than ten years in corporate strategy and technology innovation. While traveling, I stumbled upon natural papers produced entirely from invasive plant species like mulberry, water hyacinth, and manila hemp. It struck me as an ingenious concept: combating nuisance plants in ecosystems and harnessing their biomass to create tree-free biodegradable paper.

As a strategist and computer scientist at a Fortune 500 firm, my professional background didn't dwell in materials science or packaging. Nevertheless, my love and passion for the great outdoors, nature, high-altitude climbing, and trail running motivated me to channel my career and enthusiasm into a mission to make the world cleaner and better for generations to come.

As an avid trail runner, hiker and climber, the sight of plastic littering even the most remote corners of our planet was profoundly disheartening and sad. The pervasive plastic waste, its exponential growth, and the absence of sustainable packaging alternatives for conscientious companies and brands drove me to take action to pioneer the creation of the first exclusively-sustainable packaging company. In 2000, it was evident to me that plastic posed a dire environmental threat; it wasn't vanishing, and its waste was mounting. Worse still, the market was far away from any viable sustainable packaging options, leaving businesses with no better alternatives, even if they wished to choose a more responsible path.