Caremail Eco-Friendly Mailers
If you’re tired of having to throw away those padded envelopes with the bubble wrap inside, and if you’re tired of having to use bubble wrap that can’t be recycled, then have I got a treat for you !
Enter, Caremail, a company that makes recycled, eco-friendly mailing and shipping supplies.
All of Caremail’s products use recycled materials (most contain 70%-90% recycled materials), and all of them are biodegradable.
Their packing peanuts are also biodegradable, because they use potato starch instead of styrofoam.
Where You Can Buy Caremail Products
Here are a few of the Caremail products you can get from Amazon:
I’m pretty sure that Amazon carries their full line. They even make eco-friendly mailing tape!
You can also buy Caremail products at Staples as well as The Green Postal Store.
For some strange reason, I could not find Caremail’s company website anywhere. Weird. But, it’s definitely a legit company…I’m just baffled that they wouldn’t have a website.
More Tips For Greening Your Mail
So, what are some other ways we can green up our mail?
- Getting off mailing lists is a huge step we can take. I used the service from DMA Choice (the Direct Marketing Association). It only costs $1, and it works.
- Use GreenShipping.com to offset your package’s carbon footprint. GreenShipping tracks your packages through FedEx, UPS, and the USPS, calculates the carbon footprint, and then allows you to donate to fund the development of renewable energy. I just found this site today, and am pretty excited about it!
- Extend the life of your bubble mailers by reusing them. You can re-tape the ends when you’re ready to use it again. Just make sure that old addresses, and especially old bar codes, are completely covered up.
- You can reuse old cereal and oatmeal boxes to ship with by carefully disassembling them, turning them inside out, and taping them back up. That way the writing in on the inside, and you’ve got a handy box. These are best used for small, unbreakable, lightweight items.
- Don’t sign up for tons of catalogs. Search online instead.
- If you can live without them, why not cancel your magazines? Your library probably has a subscription, and you could read it for free there. You’d be saving paper, and saving money at the same time.
- Use the shredded paper from all those credit card offers as packing material.
- You can also reuse old Ziplock bags for bubble mailers. Puff them full of air and seal them back up. If you regularly send packages back and forth to family members, you could keep reusing the same Ziplocks each time and further extend their life.
Last Word…
I can’t say enough about the service from DMA Choice. I signed up last year, and now get almost no mail. It’s so worth it not to have to sort through all that junk everyday! It’s definitely worth the measly $1.
Keep in mind that you have to do each person individually, so each adult will cost $1. I signed up for myself, but keep forgetting to sign up my husband (note to self: do this today). He still gets junk mail, but I don’t.
Do any of you have green mailing tips you’d like to share?
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I just reuse what I get sent. Tape up the opened end usually with some paper over it, then lable over the old address. I hate throwing such things away. I can’t recycle cardboard at home, so I usually reuse what I get. I like the recycled that you show here, but not so much the added price.
It looks like CareMail is a product of Duck, who make the iconic silver duct tape: http://duckproducts.com/products/category.asp?catID=86
Thanks for the great tips! I’d been looking for some green shipping options, CareMail will do the trick!
@Ashley- Yeah, the Caremail stuff is a bit pricey. I think most of us could get by with reusing stuff around the house. But I thought if you had a business, or were out running errands and needed to ship something on the go, Caremail might the way to go.
@Jess- I saw the Caremail stuff on Duck too when I was researching, but had no idea they were the ones who made it. Thanks so much for clarifying!
I sew magazine pages together to make envelopes, use as many pages as I need since they’ll act as padding. Then, I sew the outer envelope with any kind of tough paper (preferably with a clean surface to write the address on), and sew the inner envelope inside and seal it up. I use no tapes since I’m sewing the edges shut. I don’t need peanuts or bubble wraps. If you don’t sew, I have the envelopes for sale in my shop, ecogeneration.etsy
Oh here is a tutorial on how to make the envelopes. The outer envelope is done in a similar way except you’ll be putting the inner envelope inside before you sew the last edge to close the envelope.
http://ecoetsy.blogspot.com/2009/04/eco-tutorial-recycled-inner-envelopes.html
Karen,
That’s an awesome idea! Your envelopes are super cool. Thanks so much for including that tutorial. I’ll have to give it a try myself!
Here is today’s article on eco-shipping. I’ll shamelessly mention that my eco-envelopes are featured in the article.
http://craftingagreenworld.com/2009/05/18/eco-packaging-handmade-for-you-envelopes/
Thank you SO much for posting this article. I’ve been searching high and low for environmentally friendly packaging to use when I send out items to my customers. So thank you again and again! I will definitely be buying caremail products from now on.
Noemi, I’ve also seen green shipping envelopes and containers at Target. I think they’re made by Scott. If you go to the office supply section you’ll see them. They’re padded envelopes that biodegrade! I just found them a couple of weeks ago. Thanks so much for reading!
I just found eco friendly packing tape at http://www.ecopackstore.com for a MUCH better price than the CareMail $22 a roll! Thats crazy.
I just found eco friendly packing tape on http://www.ecopackstore.com for a MUCH better price than the CareMail $22 a roll! That’s crazy.
Caremail’s website: http://caremailproducts.com/