Greening the Post Office – Sewn Parcels!

Lovely snowy day here- greened the (nearly daily) trip to the post office in two ways.

1. Walked. I love the days I get enough time to make the 2 mile round trip on foot (or bike in the summer). Today was especially great due to the fresh snowfall.2. Sewn packages! I have to admit that this was not all my idea. I have been trying to use recycled materials in my packaging as much as possible… I hate all of the waste that usually goes with mailing.

Because I wasn’t sure if it could go in paper recycling or not, we have a huge stack of brown paper padded wrapping that was around all of our artwork during our recent move. The sheets are huge but can be cut into manageable chunks easily enough. If folded and taped this wrapping made a perfect envelope for my cozies to sail through the mail…. but the amount of tape necessary was ridiculous, expensive, and certainly not green.

Enter my AMAZINGLY brilliant mother! “Why don’t you just sew them?” she asks…. Brilliant! A few little zig zags later we really had something. Cute, tough, and ready for the post. Now all I had to do was add the item and tape the edges closed (or sew if I felt really industrious and had left enough of an edge.) Let’s recap:

1. Cut wrapping material (brown paper etc) into sizes appropriate for what is being mailed.
2. Fold sides and sew down 2 seams with a zig zag or other strong stitch
3. Add item to mail- if it is a little more fragile, like a CD in a jewel case, you can wrap it in some left over bubble wrap first.
4. Sew top or tape closed.
5. Walk to the PO and ship!

I sewed a whole bunch of packages at one time since I know the size I’ll need most – this saved some time.

I hope this was helpful – everyone is welcome to share their own green ideas!