More and more of us are avoiding the crowds during the holiday shopping madness and opting to visit online retailers instead. When you are looking for that hard to find item, and especially with the free shipping deals, that it the ticket!! Unfortunately, for many, there is a little problem that results....
Your order arrives safe and sound, but now you have oodles and oodles of packing peanuts to deal with. They make a mess and seem to float little pieces everywhere. Many municipal recycling programs don't accept them or other forms of Styrofoam. You hate to just put them in the trash to fill up the landfill. Here are some options that you may or may not have thought of:
- The most obvious - reuse them yourself if you need to ship anything. That's a no-brainer.
- There is actually a network of companies called The Plastic Loose Fill Council (PLFC), many members are pack-and-ship type stores, that will accept your clean Styrofoam packing peanuts at their "Recycling Centers." By accepting your donations of packing peanuts, these companies can lower their overhead costs by not having to purchase as many new packing peanuts to ship their orders or mail customer packages for them. It helps these companies out, you have a place to bring your peanuts, and it helps save the planet a little at a time by keeping those peanuts out of the landfills. A win-win!! There is more information on this network and their members at www.loosefillpackaging.com. You can find a local member participating in this program by calling toll-free 1-800-828-2214 or going to their website. Simply enter your zip code and you will be provided with a list of local Recycling Centers. The annual membership fee for businesses to become members is currently only $30 per year. This is literally peanuts, pun intended, considering the cost of packing peanuts and the fact that as part of their membership fee, PLFC provides its members with literature, signage, and media information to help them spread the word about providing this service to their area. This good press in the media for their business will also likely increase traffic to their business, likely increasing their sales. Another win-win!!
- If there are no members of PLFC in your local area, try seeking out a local business you think might benefit from your packing peanuts donation. Maybe tell them about PLFC, if they hadn't heard about it already? If they are big enough to use a large quantity of packing peanuts in their daily operations, they might just join. You can help your local area by adding another resource for your friends and neighbors to drop off their packing peanuts, the business can save money, plus you can feel good about making a big step to help reduce the packing peanut impact on your local environment.
- There are also many free online resources to offer your packing peanuts to others, so someone else who might need them can link up with someone who has them, but doesn't want them. Checkout websites like www.freecycle.org or even www.craigslist.org You can simply leave them outside for the individual to pick up. Safety first!
- There are more and more people selling stuff online out of their homes, on sites such as www.Ebay.com and www.Etsy.com, to help make ends meet in this tough economy. They would LOVE your packing peanuts. Maybe someone you know or a neighbor already does this. Ask around. You will likely be surprised at how many places would gladly accept your packing peanuts.
Next time you have packing peanuts you don't need or want, don't trash them. Be proactive and find a way to reuse them or find someone else who can.
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