Happily, I’ve steadily been making my way through the 150 padded shipping envelopes I ordered from Overstock awhile back and am almost in need of restocking my supply. I’ve decided to switch things up a bit and find different packaging. Here are the results of my homework to date…

Jiffylite Cushioned Mailers
I currently use two sizes of Jiffylite Cushioned Mailers, the outsides of which are made from 100% recycled content and 10% post consumer content. The Bubble Wrap® brand cushioning inside, which also provides a moisture barrier, is made with 10% recycled plastics. At 68 and 88 cents a piece including shipping for the #5 and #6 sizes, respectively, they’re not too bad of a deal. But, I’m not sure I really need the plastic padding so much as something that’s just water- and tear-resistant. A product without the bulky padding will also make the mailers a lot easier to store, and Jimmy will like that. =]

image from Overstock.com

CareMail Mailers
I really liked the CareMail Mailer that my Figs & Ginger necklace arrived in a couple months ago. It was a plastic-free, cushioned rugged mailer made by Duck Products. CareMail Mailers are made from 90% total recycled content (50% post-consumer), cushioned with recycled newsprint and can be recycled along with your mixed paper. Unfortunately, they’re not quite the right solution for me either since they’re a little more rigid than I need and again, my products are soft and kind of self-cushioning.

image from duckproducts.com

Tyvek Mailers
So now I’m looking at non-cushioned Tyvek mailers, maybe the expanding ones like these from Amazon:

image from amazon.com

Tyvek is what those soft USPS Priority Mail (and FedEx) envelopes are made from. These are free from the USPS if you’re shipping with their Priority Mail service, but if you’re only going First Class like some of my smaller and/or less expensive items, the post office won’t allow you to use that packaging at First Class rates.

Tyvek mailers are not only lightweight, resistant to water and tearing and strong enough to repurpose into a vast array of DIY projects as a quick web search of “Tyvek DIY” will prove, but they’re also 100% recyclable! Tyvek maker DuPont runs a nationwide recycling program to collect used Tyvek envelopes and recycle them into other materials. Who knew?!

The bummer about it so far is that prices are higher than the Jiffylites and there don’t seem to be as many larger-sized options, so I have some comparison shopping to do.

Polypropylene Mailers
Poly mailers look just like the Tyvek ones and are also less expensive, but I’m wondering if these are just lower quality knockoffs that are also without the benefit of being recyclable. The ones from Staples are however, made from 25% post-consumer content, so there is some green in it.

So I guess after all that, I’m still shopping for shipping supplies. If anyone has any tips, I’d love to hear! The Switchboard Forum has a couple of threads here and here with links that look worth trying (you might have to register to see). Think I’ll check those out on a later break…

Update 01/23/09:
I’ve been hearing so many good things about Uline.com that I think I’m going to give them a try. They have bubble mailers, padded mailers, expandable Tyvek mailers AND a zillion colors of competitively priced tissue paper!

Otherwise, trusty old Costco’s got shipping supplies too. And they’re cheaper than over at Overstock. Why didn’t I notice that before?!

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