Packaging

Obviously, we want to use the most environmentally friendly packaging available, but what does that mean? It means:

• buying in bulk on items that are nonperishible
• buying items that are not individually wrapped within a larger package
• buying cardboard over plastic and recycling the cardboard
• It also means cooking at home more often so you don't use so many tv dinners that now come in plastic within cardboard. Just remember to cook a little more so you can heat the leftovers in the microwave the next day instead of using the stoce to cook a whole other meal. The microwave uses less energy than the stove after all. And, remember to use glass containers to heat your dinners rather than plastic tupperware. The toxins in the plastic can leak into your food (scary).

On the other side of things, we need to mindful when we package things. I sell on-line and ship items constantly. When I ship large items I try and use the collapsable cardboard filler and I try to avoid putting boxes within boxes. Because I don't ship large items a lot anymore, I recently returned a bunch of priority boxes to the post office rather than dumping them into the recycle bin. Little things like that make me feel good.

Related Articles: Plastics I & II