Eco friendly Packaging Tips for Online Sellers

I am as bare bones as it gets with my posh packages, I do my best to keep my impact low but I am not immune to pretty packaging. Sure it's pretty and certainly gets you more love notes but is it really worth it? Most of the packaging sent to buyers is immediately discarded, these tips can help you avoid contributing to the landfill with your packaging. 

1. Fold it, ship it. Yeah I know this may be too extreme for some but if you can stomach a few less love notes and maybe a few 4 star reviews well then just nix the fancy packaging all together. It will save you money and cut down on trash. 

2. Stop taping tissue paper. Tissue paper rips very easily and adding tape just ensures that it will happen, once it has ripped its very unlikely that your buyer will reuse it for another package. Give it a fighting chance to be used once again.

3. Don't sign your thank you notes. Keep it simple and sweet and don't add anything that would render it unusable by the buyer. Less is more and hopefully your buyer will use that note in one of their packages.

4. Don't wash before shipping. I know this will be a controversial subject and I have heard both sides. But if the item is clean, doesn't have any smells or stains then don't wash it. Why not? Because the number one negative impact on the environment from fashion comes from laundering clothing.   Also most buyers launder clothing before they will wear it, so does it really need to be washed twice? To be very clear I am not saying you should send out dirty clothes, if it looks dirty wash it but if not perhaps skip it. 

5. Say it with a stamp. Invest in a stamp that has your closet name and a "Thank you" so you can stamp your package for instant branding. It avoids using a piece of paper for a thank you note and if they reuse the package then you may gain another follower or two. If they want to reuse the package and don't want your stamp to show all they have to do is tape the label over your stamp.

6. Use a thermo printer. Ink is one of the most expensive liquids on earth, far more expensive per ounce than you would expect. So save yourself some money and use a thermo printer which uses heat to print, the initial cost is higher but per year you can save hundreds of dollars. Not to mention you save paper and tons of tape if you use sticky label thermo paper. I have the Dymo XL and you can see my video on how to print your posh labels here.

7. Use recycled packaging. There are a few companies that sell recycled eco friendly packaging, my favorite is EcoEnclose. They sell everything from mailers to tape, stickers to low waste thermal labels, plus they were a sponsor of the Secondhand Gift Exchange in 2018.

I hope you found these tips helpful, if you have any Eco friendly packaging tips of your own please leave them in the comments. I am always looking for more ways to cut down on my footprint.

Thank you for reading!

-Jade