If you are a small business who uses a transport company to deliver small items of freight, there are many ways you can be sustainable and save your costs as well. Many businesses also receive goods such as supplies, so they will have various kinds of packaging to dispose of. While it may be sent off to the recycling centre, it could be a better option to keep it and re-use it for the packaging needs of your business.
Recycling packaging for your business will save in many ways.
- It saves on the cost of purchasing more packaging
- It saves on the cost of disposing of it in some other way
- It saves on the cost of fuel in having new packaging delivered to your business.
While the latter may not be saving your own fuel costs, it still helps to save the earth’s resources.
You may think that being, in effect, your own recycling centre will take up more room, you would still have to find storage for the new packaging materials if you purchased that. This room can be utilised to store recycled packaging just as well. It is possible to flatten cardboard boxes so they don’t take up too much room. If you store them in piles according to size, it will be easy to find the right ones for your needs.
The same goes for padded or stronger than usual envelopes that may also be used to send smaller items. By opening the end carefully, it is possible to reuse them again. Simply glue another label over the top of the old one. You could even have a stamp to use on them that says “We (heart) recycling” . That would be a subtle explanation for using an envelope that looks like it’s been used before as well a way to encourage others to think along the same lines. It also tells others that your company is into recycling in more ways than one.
Many envelopes of this kind remain strong and usable for ages, so it’s a shame to see them go to landfill. While the sticky end may not be re-usable, a few staples will secure it and you can add strong sticky tape over the top to ensure the ends of the staples don’t stick out and damage anyone. Choosing an oversized label will ensure that most of the writing on the envelope will not be seen.
Of course, not every company will be able to implement sustainability for packaging in these ways, but most can at least send cardboard boxes, corrugated cardboard and paper-based packaging to a recycling centre. When everyone does what they can to lessen the waste going into landfill and reduce their carbon footprint, the earth will be a better place.
