Getting the stuff you buy online is part of the experience. It has become part of the reality most of us encounter. At the low-end of the spectrum you have the small item from amazon bouncing loosely in a box ten times its own size that lands on your doorstep half crushed. As regular American I get my own fair share of stuff shipped to the door, as well as most of the product we re-sell. I see a fair bit of the good, the bad and the ugly. We strive to be as far as possible to the good side when we send things out.
There are a few things I consider paramount. When you choose your packaging it should serve its minimum purpose of protecting the end product for a secure delivery. After that it needs to enhance the general experience. This can be done by imparting useful information, creating an unwrapping experience that brings back good memories, feels like getting a gift, all of it is able to be reused or recycled, or leaves you with useful materials beyond the intended purchase etc.
Here is the latest in our evolving practice to deliver a favorable experience when you receive your stuff that we shipped you. On the receiving end we get a ton of different packing material. The bottom end of the spectrum are the foam peanuts, but our favorite is the brown craft paper.
We end up with mountains of the stuff at times. It all gets flattened back out, and staged for reuse. Not all is created equal, certain types are better at different things, but almost every square inch of it sees a second chance at passing through the shipping channels.
The lighter weight pieces are used for wrapping, the rest ends up as packing material to hold the item securely in the box.
In the past we tied the wrapping closed with the scrap fabric from our double weave kerchief production. Lately we have become enamoured with the colored hemp twine from Newbaums. You probably already know we have a thing for color, and traditional bar tape with twined ends. This twine opens up a whole new range of options to add some more color to your builds. Starting in the last week, packages have been going out with the thank you notes attached with a length long enough to do a trial wrap somewhere on your build. Sometimes I pick a color that I know is either your favorite, and or could complement your Rambler well (yes I actually think about this stuff while wrapping things up). They have a wide variety of options that match or complement just about every color of the Newbaums cloth bar tape. The rolls from Merry Sales are huge, way bigger then the average person will need. In the near future we will be adding it to the storefront in 10 ft lengths.
I think about this sort of stuff, probably way too much. Every little bit helps, it keeps it fun for you and us. Sometimes I envision the paper being used over and over, stamped by each brand or user, and ending up like that well traveled passport. This one is just getting ready to start the next leg of its journey.
Reduce – Reuse – Recycle!