Going Green: Eco-Friendly Mailers and Packaging For Your Business

 As a business owner, you probably send out numerous packages and mail items to your customers regularly. Usually, mailers and shipping packages are made from materials such as plastics that take years to break down and end up in landfills. However, with a growing demand for sustainability among consumers, you may be looking for eco-friendly alternatives to traditional mailers and packaging. Using environmentally-conscious products aligns with current values and can make your business stand out.

What are Eco-Friendly Mailers?

Eco friendly mailers are envelopes and packages made from biodegradable materials that break down naturally over time without releasing toxins into the soil. Popular eco-friendly materials include:

• Recycled paper and cardboard
• Mushroom mycelium
• Straw and other agricultural waste
• Bamboo
• Corn starch
• Recycled cotton
• Compostable bioplastics

When choosing eco-friendly mailers, make sure they are certified industrial compostable by organizations like BPI or CMA. This ensures they break down in commercial composting facilities.

Benefits of Eco-Friendly Mailers

Have you considered swapping out traditional mailers and packaging for eco-friendly alternatives? There are many benefits to making this switch!

• Sustainability - By choosing plant-based and compostable mailers instead of plastic, you minimize waste and environmental impact. This allows you to run a greener operation.

• Cost savings - Surprisingly, sustainable packaging can reduce costs due to tax incentives, discounts, and reusable options. Using eco-friendly materials is an investment that pays off.

• Customer approval - Consumers care about sustainability. Eco-friendly changes make customers more likely to approve of and buy from your company.

• Brand story - Pursuing ethical practices gives you a compelling company narrative. Share your environmental efforts to attract like-minded customers.

For e-commerce businesses that handle high order volumes, eco-friendly poly mailers provide a sustainable shipping envelope choice. Biodegradable poly mailers break down without releasing harmful substances. Options include:

• Corn starch mailers- Made from renewable corn starch instead of plastic, these fully biodegradable mailers compost within a few months. They come in letter and bubble styles.

• Mushroom poly mailers - Innovative mushroom root material offers a compostable plastic alternative without genetically modified ingredients. These unusual envelopes leave no toxic residue.

• Recycled poly mailers - For the budget-conscious, mailers constructed from recycled plastic provide an affordable transitional option. While not biodegradable, they lower environmental impact.

• Plant-based bubble mailers - Combining recycled materials, plants, and natural dyes, some best bubble mailers offer biodegradability with no plastic polymers. Bonus: they’re cute!

Implementing Eco-Initiatives

Interested in making your business more eco-friendly but unsure where to start? Follow these tips:

• Audit your packaging - Review all shipping materials and identify problems with plastics, styrofoam, and unnecessary waste. Track essential data like weight and cost.

• Set sustainability goals - Make measurable short and long-term plans like “50% converted to compostable poly mailers in 6 months” or “zero plastic packaging used by 2025.”

• Research eco-friendly alternatives - Vet potential vendors and get free samples to test quality, durability, and affordability before making bulk orders. Lock in discounted rates.

• Educate staff - Get buy-in by training staff on sustainability best practices and new eco-friendly packaging protocols. This ensures consistent implementation.

• Advertise the switch - Upon launching internal changes, announce it! Share the news on social media and your website so customers applaud your forward-thinking efforts.

Small Changes Can Make a Difference

To boost sustainability while cutting costs, even minor tweaks like using eco-friendly tape, reducing packaging, and eliminating filler materials can make a meaningful difference. For instance, to seal boxes, you can use recycled kraft paper tape instead of plastic tape. You can also opt for minimal mailers in standard sizes that match the contents, instead of oversized bags, puffy plastic bubble wrap, and unnecessary filler

When cushioning is needed, renewable options like shredded paper, cotton balls, or plant-fibre pads can be used. Although it may not be feasible in all cases, eliminating extraneous outer packaging can further reduce environmental impact. When possible, using carefully wrapped or snug custom boxes can mean less packaging entering landfills and less weight requiring additional fuel for shipping.

Offset Remaining Emissions

Even if a company uses sustainable materials, it is likely that it will still have some level of emissions that need to be mitigated. This can be done by investing in renewable energy credits or high-quality certified carbon offsets, which support environmental restoration and renewable energy projects.

If you want to calculate your company's footprint, get in touch with our sustainability experts. We offer affordable verified offsets through global partnerships, which can help you completely neutralize the impact of your remaining emissions.

The Eco-Friendly Future Is Now!

As eco-conscious shopping becomes more popular, sustainable practices such as using renewable plant-based eco-friendly poly mailers are not only good for branding but also for future-proofing your business. By taking action today and aligning your values with green business standards, you can stay ahead of the curve. Contact us to start transitioning all your packaging, mailers, tissue paper, and tape to ecologically sound, certified compostable materials that are tailored to your business needs and budget.

By following these tips, you can easily integrate earth-friendly shipping materials into your business. Combine this with reusing boxes and being mindful when ordering supplies, using biodegradable poly mailers and other compostable envelopes can make your operations more sustainable for the long term. If you have any questions about eco-friendly packaging, please don't hesitate to contact us.