Recycle, Resend, Recycle!

Finally they are here! Yes, yes, yes, the recyclable envelopes have been finally approved by the US Post office!

I am not a hard core environmentalist but when I moved to the US I was appalled by the number of envelopes that are being sent everyday for nothing.

"Business reply enclosed" or envelopes to pay things you have already paid online or "courtesy reply", I think I get at least 10 envelopes a week that I will never use. And that is just little poor me. Multiply that for each person and there is so much paper wasted per day that is just craziness.

Think about it: according to Springwise, some "81 billion return envelopes are sent through the US mail each year in credit-card statements, utility bills and other direct mailings, at an estimated cost of 1 billion pounds in greenhouse gas emissions and more than 71 trillion BTUs of energy. Eliminate some of those by using reusable envelopes instead, and it could make a big difference for the environment."

That is what ecoEnvelopes, a Minnesota-based company is about. They are trying eliminate the use of reply envelopes from corporate America, giving a line of reusable envelopes as the alternative.

There are different sizes and types, but you can get an idea of how they work through this video:

ecoEnvelopes was actually founded back in 2002, but it worked for years to perfect the design of its envelopes and obtain the US Postal Service’s approval—which it now has. Their products work seamlessly with existing insertion and postal processing equipment, and are manufactured exclusively on certified papers from managed forests, with up to 100% post-consumer recycled content.

Green solutions are not always easy to implement. Sometimes the solution is not easy, sometimes it requires that we change our ways. In this case, it seems that a little change in behavior can go a long way in eco-savings.

Via Springwise