REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE
Online shopping during the pandemic has become an essential part of the new normal for customers and businesses alike, but it also means we are all consuming even more packaging.
Packaging is a necessary evil for all online businesses. As a small business selling ceramics, not only do I want my products to look good, I need them to arrive in one piece, which is a tricky balance with the added issue of the costs.
I try to follow reduce, reuse, recycle wherever I can. I use shredded magazines, flyers and paper to pack out small items like tea bag tidies and egg cups. I reuse any bubble wrap I have before taking any from my new roll. I've also started using starch based packing peanuts which are environmentally friendly and 100% biodegradable.
Tea bag tidies are wrapped in tissue paper and then bubble wrap, before being packed in a box with shredded magazines and scrap paper.
Packing out an order with environmentally friendly packing peanuts and a square thank you flyer.
I used to have postcards which I would give out at markets and include in my orders, when these ran out I decided to switch to square recycled paper flyers which are the perfect size for origami or for cutting up for DIY crafts.
When I receive my own online purchases I try to open them so that the packaging can be reused and I now have quite the stockpile of mailing bags, jiffy bags, bubble wrap and various small boxes that I think will be useful (much to my husband's horror). I even keep the cellophane bags from greeting cards ever since @oliveroadlondon told me she often reused them to package small items like buttons. I currently reuse them to collect the plastic clips from the dry cleaners and then I return them back to them so they can be reused along with the hangers.
The stockpile of mailing bags, jiffy bags and assorted packaging being sorted.
We have a jar which we fill with cuff clips and when it’s full I fill a bag and return them to the dry cleaners.
During lockdown large boxes in our house were given new life as a playhouse, a boat and a dollhouse for my girls to play with. I also cut boxes up for painting and collage with my oldest daughter, where we use all sorts of non-recyclable materials to avoid buying supplies.
Cardboard and gaffer tape dollhouse, find the instructions on Pinterest here.
To make the house look more fun I covered the house in magazine cuttings.
So many hours of playtime with this house / shop.
Sticker house! Find the instructions on Pinterest here.
Cutting and sticking time.
Boat / car shape, stuck together with reflective tape I no longer had use for.
I’ve had lots of fun making up stuff for the girls, it’s made me look at packaging as materials rather than rubbish, which in turn has made me evaluate how I use packaging in my business going forward.
