Green Options

I’m frequently sent products to review - everything from kids’ DVDs with environmental messages to bottles of organic alcholic spirits (hey, someone has to do the tough reviews, right?). I really enjoy doing product reviews (and the perks that come along with them), but sometimes I’m horrified at the packaging that these environmental products are shipped in. Products have shown up on my front steps that have been packed in boxes that are far too big and overly wrapped in bubble wrap surrounded by plastic air pillows surrounded by packing peanuts (that is not an exaggeration).

When the companies that send me products to review ship their products in environmentally unfriendly packaging, they are sending more than just a product. They are unintentionally sending me a message that their company hasn’t thought about the entire environmental impact of their actions. When I get an item shipped with the earth in mind, I get a different, more positive message.

One of the many fantastic things I saw at GreenFest Philly last Sunday was a company called Green Packaging. Green Packaging sells various forms of, you guessed it, green packaging options.

It always makes me laugh when moving companies try to sell their own boxes. Who would pay for a box with so much cardboard already going into the landfills? In the last month or so my husband has been picking boxes up all over the city. He goes to liquor stores, bars, grocery stores, and restaurants.  MORE BOXES is on the top of the moving checklist every week. Gulp. I suddenly get how this is not the most eco-friendly option. Every time hubby goes on a box run, we’re using that darned car. Need I mention the amount of tape required to make sure the toy hippos don’t fall out?

If we lived in California, we would most definitely use RecoPacks from rentagreenbox.com, a company that takes zero-impact very seriously. Not only do they scour the landfills for trash that is difficult to recycle, such as old car seats and bottles that once held bleach or laundry detergent, they also deliver the containers (when you rent them for a buck a week) in a truck that runs on veggie oil and bio fuel. When you’re done you simply place the RecoPacks on a “poopy pallet” (made partially from the shells of old diapers) outside your new home and the veggie truck picks them up. No secret dumping of boxes in the cover of darkness necessary.

One of my fondest childhood memories was playing with a brand new refrigerator box with our neighbors in the front yard.  This large box was a space ship, a school bus, a house, etc.  Parents know that kids love boxes, and sometimes these corrugated containers are more interesting than the toys they contain on birthdays and holidays.  Kidsonroof has combined children’s love of cardboard boxes with dramatic play to create the MobileHome.

The MobileHome is made from recycled cardboard, is biodegradable, five percent of profits are donated to UNICEF, and is made in China.  It has eight secret rooms and is easy to take with you to the park, on vacation, or around the house.  My children immediately integrated their other toys, including their children’s yoga mat,  into dramatic play with our MobileHome.