Green Christmas: Ship Green

Lots o’ boxes, I know. Most of them are from items being shipped to us (I know bad but when your  saving money…) However the good thing is we always reuse those boxes to ship things back out. Here are some things I’ve learned to make shipping a little more green.

When Shipping:

• Use the smallest box possible.
• Save bubble wrap and other fill to re use.
• If your sending multiple items to the same house combine shipping.
• Flip your boxes inside out to make them new again. Here is a video for some pointers.
• If you need to buy new packaging and you do a lot of shipping (Etsy Sellers) Check out this website. They have Eco Friendly materials at a decent price. Their Mailers range from .35-.83 per box depending on size.
• Use shredded paper fill if you don’t have anything to reuse.

When Receiving:

• Choose the combine shipping option, instead of the ‘when its available’ method.
• See if there is a ‘green’ shipping option some companies have it.
• Opt out of any ‘junk’ mail.
• Choose Companies that ship responsibly. I have to admit I was a little distraught by a recent order from a certain company that I ordered 5 very small items from. They arrived in 3 separate large boxes with tons of brown paper making them a nest in each box. I’m not sharing their name at this time because I’m wondering if I missed the combined shipping check box and I”m looking into it.

Either

• Purchase a carbon offset for your shipment from a place like. www.greenshipping.com. All you need is your tracking number.
• Use a website like Climate Counts to see what large companies are best at fighting climate change.