(no subject)

[yukonsally]

I'm starting to lose the battle.

I've been using the padded envelopes to send things to friends, and despite the cost to ship, it's worked well. People who need the things get the things and I get rid of things.

But the incoming padded envelopes.. from necessary things.. I have been conscious to buy fewer things to decrease the amount of shipping materials, but some things we just can't stop.

And I'm at a stand still of things to give away, so that's no help. I need to dig deeper to find things to get rid of.

Comments

[fred_mouse]

I have had to make the uncomfortable choice to put padded envelopes straight in to the recycling/rubbish. If I could work out what the pattern is to getting sturdy cardboard envelopes and padded plastic ones for the books I order, I'd move entirely to the former, but I can't. And there is a space that is allowed to have packing materials, and it is full. :{

[yukonsally]

I wish we could see what shipping materials would be used before purchase! As much as I want to build up my music collection... maybe I'll just buy online to ship to a local store, so I won't get the shipping material.

[fred_mouse]

That would be nice wouldn't it. Or if the various locations actually said what they were going to use, so you could check. Some of this is coming from big internet retailers, and I think that one of them is more likely to be using plastic, and one cardboard, so I might have to start looking at the pattern, and maybe change my preferred supplier.

I think that the last CD I bought came in cardboard, and that was from a specific local chain, so I might consider using them as my default. I wonder if it is worth starting to contact online mobs and asking how they package things, and start agitating for alternatives.

[tanaqui]

I agree with fred_mouse that you may just have to put them in the trash, much as you don't want to, if you're acquiring them faster than you can use them.

Having said that, I do have a few suggestions, if you haven't tried them already and they're practical.

1. Make a post on Facebook asking if anyone knows anyone who might want them. Maybe someone runs an Etsy shop or similar (or know someone who does) and would find them useful.

2. Do you have Freecycle or something similar where you could list them?

3. You could always just try putting them out at the curb (in fine weather!) with a "Free to a good home" sign on them and see if they go?

[yukonsally]

I might have to try the freecycle way. Years ago, I gave a bunch to someone who needed them, but it was a complete stranger from a local group I'm no longer in.

Thank you!

[fred_mouse]

Those are great suggestions. I should pull out a box, empty my existing stash down to 'minimal' and see what I can rehome. That way, I could start stock piling again.

[vae]

Do you have a local freecycle/freegle group? There are almost always people out there looking for padded envelopes.