Sometimes I become disheartened when it seems as though my efforts to make a difference amount to only a drip of a drop of the proverbial drop in a bucket. After all, I’m only one person. But as a Ruby Lane shop owner, I’m delighted with the emphasis that management is placing on "Going Green!" -- challenging and inspiring us to reduce waste and help improve the environment. So in that spirit, here are some tips I hope you can use as a merchant/shipper to "Go Greener." I’m sure you're already using some, but hopefully I can offer at least one helpful new idea.

WHAT TO USE: Re-use packaging materials whenever possible. I make sure my customers know that the money I save by reusing packing materials allows me to not charge packing and/or handling fees! Caution: be selective choosing containers and filler materials: if you would cringe at receiving something in it, don’t use it. Everything must be clean and sound. If it’s dirty, has holes or smells bad – recycle it instead! Avoid using newspaper – it looks scuzzy, the ink rubs off on whatever it touches, and it’s heavy, driving up postage. Never use plastic grocery bags – they don’t absorb shock well and look cheap. Put them in the recycling bin on your next trip to the store.

WHERE TO FIND IT: Start with stores where you shop. Our neighborhood bookstore is a terrific source of cardboard boxes and peanuts! Time grocery store trips to when clerks are stocking the shelves and pick over the cartons they empty. Check with drugstores and libraries and other local businesses. Check with service companies likely to receive items packed in reusable boxes, foam and peanuts, such as distributors, HVAC and appliance repairmen.

AT HOME: Refill printer cartridges and recycle empty ones. My office supply company gives me credit for returning empties. Buy recycled paper. Replace standard light bulbs with energy savers. Turn off your equipment, rather than letting it "hibernate." Reduce your trips to the post office or package drop-off locations (tell your customers you’re economizing to keep costs down)!

ODDS ‘N ENDS:

** Use coffee tins or tubs, especially the larger sizes, to pack fragile items instead of double boxing. A relative saves them for me from her office, where they would otherwise be discarded.

** Inspect used bubble wrap carefully. Don’t re-use bubble wrap that has tape stuck on it or has holes. Use these defective pieces judiciously (if they aren’t too bad) to fill up space in packing boxes.

** Regardless of what you finish packing with, first wrap your item in new paper for an attractive appearance that tells your customer you value their business. Economize here by buying tissue paper and gift-wrap at clearance sales, flea markets and tag sales.

** I use Kraft paper to force items to stay in place in boxes. Handy sources of clean used "Kraft paper"include grocery store paper sacks (cut them up, discarding the bottoms and advertising) and paper wrapping from store purchases.

** I don’t recommend biodegradable peanuts! They only last for several uses because they shrivel when exposed to the slightest dampness. Using standard, non-biodegradable peanuts over and over seems less wasteful – as long as recipients keep re-using them, they just keep on going!

** Re-use a USPS Priority Mail box for another Priority mailing if you can disguise its prior use well. Otherwise, cut it up and use the clean pieces as stiffeners in envelopes, or as braces for shoring up other boxes.

Jane Silvernail
Times Treasures Railroad & Country Collectibles
http://www.rubylane.com/shops/timestreasures