More and more people are shopping online, and that means that garbage dumps are filling up with packing peanuts — those small, styrofoam nuggets that weigh almost nothing, but cushion your merchandise while it’s being shipped. Packing peanuts love to stick to you with static cling while you’re unpacking the shipping container.
As soon as the box is unpacked, most people throw the box full of packing peanuts in the garbage dumpster. DON’T! There’s an easy-peasy alternative that’s beneficial to the environment, and it will help a small business in your community. All you have to do is give the packing peanuts away — Free to Good Home.
Keep a big, empty box in a clean location away from rain, mildew, and spiders. Dump all your packing peanuts in that box, and when it’s full, give it away on Craigslist, Freecycle, or somewhere similar.
The odds are, it will be gone within 24 hours. Small business owners who ship through the mail would LOVE to have your clean, gently used packing peanuts. Small businesses struggle, and their owners rarely get a paycheck, but instead, pay for business expenses out of their own pocket.
Many business owners pour their entire life savings into starting up a business, and 25% will fail in their first year. In the second year, that percentage goes up to 36%, and by year three, nearly half of the start-up businesses will have failed. A whopping 44% of new businesses shut down by the end of their third year, with their families suffering without the income.
Packing peanuts seem like small potatoes in the big pot of stew, but trust me, even a small break such as free packing peanuts can give a boost to a local business. And don’t forget… by recycling your packing peanuts, you are keeping them out of the landfill.
Who knows? As long as they’re being recycled, there’s a chance they’ll find a permanent home in the bottom of a planter, restuffing someone’s beanbag chair, or strung up like popcorn on a Christmas tree.
Getting rid of them is as easy as placing an ad on Craiglist or Freecycle for freebie items, and when someone emails you that they want it, put the box outside for them to come and get. You don’t even have to meet them face-to-face or open your door to a stranger. What could be easier than placing an ad, then putting the box outside?
