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Green Packing Materials
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December 2011

There are now several “green” packing materials. EcoCradle is a product made from fungal mycelium (mushroom roots) on rice hulls or other organic byproducts. It looks a little like Styrofoam. The root mass is biodegradable, renewable, can be put in a garden, doesn’t attract pests and is competitive in price. Another “green” packing material is PaperNuts, made from recycled paper. Of course the easiest and least expensive is homemade shredded or crumpled newspapers. Don’t use popcorn. It attracts bugs and mice.

 

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  WhitesAttic  - Green Packing   |12-14-2011 22:42:05  
A couple of other ideas about "green" packing: To keep all that shredded
paper from attacking the recipient of the package, stuff it into paper or
plastic bags (ones that need to be re-used or recycled anyway). You can also
make your own air bags when you need light weight packaging (which saves on
energy to transport your package). Just take a plastic bag (make sure there are
no holes in it -- I use inexpensive food storage bags most of the time) and fill
it about half way with air. Then seal it (either tie it tightly or tape it
securely, being sure than no air gaps can occur). For flexibility of shape,
don't tie it like a balloon -- leave a little slack space for the air to move
around. These air bags work well for light-weight items.
  andy  - Green's fine, but NOT Newspaper!   |12-19-2011 09:43:13  
Crumpled newspaper is a tempting choice for packing due to its availability, but
makes a poor choice for at least a couple of reasons:

1) It's very poor at
cushioning. When compressed and released, it does not rebound, thus allowing
objects to work themselves free and rattle around during shipping. The results
can be disastrous.

2) Crumpled newspaper isn't light, either; you're paying
to ship it. Weigh a section or two of an average newspaper, the amount that you
would use for packing. Heavier than it looks, right? It weighs just the same in
crumpled form.

Items requiring padding should be wrapped in bubble wrap,
followed by styrofoam popcorn or similar to fill in larger spaces in the box, so
that you hear nothing when shaking the finished package. Both bubble wrap and
popcorn can be reused over and over; just roll up or bag up whatever you receive
for future reuse, or turn it in for recycling.
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