Questions about recycled packaging - Answered!

I hope you don't mind me asking, but I'm really into going green and hope to use only recycled packaging, however some people may not like it and others may think it looks messy and unprofessional. Do you have any ideas or references into making recycled packaging more "professional"? I already use some recycled food boxes but my family thinks it looks sloppy. Please help if you don't mind.

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I use food boxes in my packaging all the time — including McDonald's happy meal boxes. I use them and cereal boxes, as well as other packaged food boxes that use cereal box style cardboard (as long as the food is dry) - even soda pop cardboard. I flatten them, then cut 2 pieces exactly to fit inside the envelopes I use to ship my cards. I put the cards in between the two pieces then inside the envelope. The envelopes are 100% recycled paper - Kraft paper - that I buy from envelopemall.com.

When I'm not shipping something that is flat, I re-use the smallest cardboard box I can find to do the job — or a bubble mailer that I re-use. Sometimes I reinforce those with cereal box cardboard.

I have never had any complaints - in fact - I have received some really nice compliments about my packaging. I think people who buy the things I make are eco-friendly to begin with so they appreciate it. I do put a statement in my etsy seller's profile that I use re-used packaging, but I don't go into detail.

I really don't take to heart the concern some express about needing to have frilly packaging or making things look 'professional.' The vast majority of people when asked say they think what really matters is the content and they don't care what the packaging looks like as long as the item arrives safely.

That doesn't stop me from wrapping a monkey figure or a handmade box in tissue paper or raffia ribbon though! When I do make an effort to wrap a purchase like a present, I always re-use material — usually from Christmas and birthdays. Fortunately the vast majority of people who buy presents for me use non-Christmassy wrapping paper and tissue which makes it easier to re-use.

I also use butcher paper to wrap packages - you can get it from your local newspaper for cheap or even free. At some point, the paper on the huge rolls they buy is too short to run through their press, so they accumulate 'end rolls' of unprinted newspaper. You can call them and ask if they give away or sell their end rolls. Crumpled, it makes nice padding for items that aren't heavy. You can also buy rolls of Kraft paper to serve the same purpose. It's also inexpensive.

For heavy items like pottery, you still need bubble wrap or those plastic peanuts - I save all of that type of thing I get so I can re-use it. I've never had to buy them since they are so ubiquitous.

Basically, if you save all packaging material you receive, you can re-use almost all of it. The only things I throw straight in the recycling bin are materials that are soiled, stained beyond all recognition, or crushed to the point of being useless. For re-sued packaging materials like boxes and bubble mailers that have been around the block and don't look pretty, I wrap them in Kraft paper off a roll.

Biodegradable Plastic Bags

Before too long the days of "paper or plastic" will be history. Cities all over the word are making the bold move to ban non-biodegradable plastic bags. I think this is a smart move.

If people won't change their behavior - bringing their own reusable bags - they have to be given no other choice. Giving people an "incentive" of 5 cents off for bringing their own bags clearly does nothing to change behavior en mass.

Plastic bags are now on the market that are made of corn and fully degrade in 120 days. They are made by Trellis Earth, a company based in Portland, Oregon. The bags have already made their way to grocery stores there, with The Daily Grind being one of the first to adopt them. They're on Hawthorne street by the way, if you want to see what the bags are like. Or, you could go to the homepage of Trellis Earth and watch the video.

If I never see another plastic bag washed up on a beach, stuck in a chain link fence, way up on the tips of the highest branch of a tree - the world will be a better, and cleaner place.

The corn-based bags cost stores about 6 cents each, compared with 1 cent for the petroleum-based bags.

If communities won't go for an all out ban on petroleum-based bags, there is another way to change consumer behavior really fast - grocery stores can start charging people for the plastic bags consumers use. I'd charge 6 cents per petroleum based bag, 1 cent for the corn ones.

And, while I'm at it, you know - If I Was President - I would establish a national bottle bill.

Here's the letter I sent the company:
Dear Trellis,
I am busy writing a blogpost about your bags, and while doing so I was forced to think about my own relationship with plastic bags. The only time I routinely use plastic bags is for dog poo clean up while out on walks around my city. I looked through your inventory and saw that the only size bag you make that would fit the bill is not the right dimension for this job. I have a Newfoundland who leaves monster dumps, so it's important for me to have the right dimensions. Please consider making bags that are 6 inches wide by about 12 inches tall. I know many other eco-conscious dog owners like myself would be happy to buy and use them!
Thank you,
~ me

Bird Identification Challenge

One year someone gave me a National Audubon Society Page-A-Day calender of birds. I saved some of my favorite bird images from the calender and mounted them on cards made from my handmade paper.

I have more of these than I know what to do with, so I listed them on Etsy and also donated a set to the Etsy For Animals store. The EFA store donates all sales proceeds to animal charities. The sale of my cards went toward Pug rescue, allegedly. I figure that with my labels on the back, at least the recipients will know where they came from.
I think these cards would be perfect for bird lovers, bird watchers, Audubon enthusiasts and anyone who prefers to make eco-friendly consumer choices.

I've left the birds unidentified so you can give your birdwatching friend a terrific identification challenge.

The cover example is a bird I've always had trouble identifying in the field. Its look-a-like is too similar to be able to identify it accurately when it's out on the water and you're on shore. I think many waterfowl are really best identified with a scope. And, I think if you have to bring a scope with you, well, it's just not usually worth it.

All of this reminds me that I once worked for the National Audubon Society. It was an okay job and I certainly got very well-acquainted with grant-funded grass roots environmental work. I learned first hand about coordinating and communicating with like-minded NGOs, bureaucratic waste, inertia, etc. Inefficiency.

I am pleased to have worked for them, after all, it is a charitable organization whose mission I support.

Carved Primate Pens in a Handmade Recycled Toilet Paper Tube Caddy

In lieu of a more substantive post, I present this gizmo. I made it out of three adjoined toilet paper tubes that I covered with paper I made out of junk mail and flower petals. The carved primates were given to me many years ago as a gift.

Dressing Up Used Containers

I prefer to re-use containers whenever possible.
My preference is strong enough that I can honestly say it was a sock-rotter when an item I ordered from etsy arrived in damaged packaging.

The USPS 'apologized' for damaging the container (a bubble mailer I would have happily re-used to mail off items that get bought from my etsy store). The bubble mailer smelled like smoked salmon - not a scent I want permeating anything I send to a customer, let alone my house! The smell was nauseating so I chucked it, albeit reluctantly.

Recently I had a craving for Brie, the kind that comes in those round wooden boxes with about a 4 inch diameter, and with the help of Mr. Field Notes emptied the container. Delicious! This afternoon I fished out some Japanese paper from my collection and covered the now empty brie container with some really terrific indigo-colored paper that I found in the Origami Center of Japan.

I had enough left over from the small sheet to also cover a now empty tea canister. I had eyed several tea containers while I was in Japan but elected not to buy one - perhaps because I knew I could make one of my own at a tenth of the price. Besides, plain green tea is easy enough to get at home and I prefer spicy chai anyway, so it was after all, a really easy thing to forgo.

I am very pleased with how the dressed up containers turned out.

In general I like re-using things. I spruce up empty toilet paper tubes (they become pen and crafting tool organizers). I have also turned some used calenders into envelopes and magnets. It turns out I amassed quite a collection over the last several years.

One set is from Le Petite Prince, a Little Prince calender I found in Paris.

The words on the magnets are lines from the original book, en francais.

The envelopes were snapped up by a Little Prince fan I know, but I still have the magnets.

It would take a princely sum to make me part with the magnets. Le Petite Prince was the first book I read in French, and I am fond of the imagery. More importantly, I have no idea when I'll be in France again!

Another set is from La Vache Qui Rit, a Laughing Cow cheese calender.

I bought it in Paris at the same time as the Little Prince one.

I think the cow art is very handsome. I left the calender hanging up on the fridge and kept rotating the pictures because the art is so wonderful. It dates back to 2001.

I also converted a Newfoundland dog calender and two calenders from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund into envelopes.


I only have magnets for the newfies. The DFGF didn't set up their calenders the way commercial ones do so there aren't little images on the back cover to show buyers what is inside the calender. They haven't sent one for 2008 so I don't know whether they're not doing them this year or if we didn't donate enough, or some other thing. I like the calenders a lot, and don't need them as a reason or reward for donating.


I'm storing the envelopes in the plastic containers that our Organics lettuce comes packaged in. After the labels are pealed off and the container rinsed and dried, they are perfectly functional and look great. I never have to wonder what is stored inside.

Once you train yourself to consider other uses for packaging and containers, you'll start noticing all kinds of "garbage" that should never end up in the landfill.