Monday, April 20, 2009

Today’s mini-dilemma to tackle? How to mail out 4 book-sized birthday presents without any envelopes? I knew this was a challenge I was up to—first, I found in the recycling bin a padded envelope and a small box that I get mailed DVDs in: old addresses covered with new mailing labels, a few staples and some packing tape and they were good to go. Second, I started to fashion a new box by refolding an old cracker box and got so far as gluing 3 sides together before a knock on the door revealed another DVD delivered in a padded envelope. (How the universe provides, sometimes when you don’t need it to!) And finally, the last package was slightly larger but more flexible than the others, so a used Tyvek mailer turned inside out would probably be the best option—the great thing about Tyvek is that it is so tough you can’t rip it, the bad thing is that not many people realize how easy it is to reuse them. And don’t want to use Fedex or Priority Mail for your shipping needs? Just turn them inside out and you’ve got your own generic brand mailer. The ease of this challenge made me wish I had more things to mail out— I could see reusing the tough plastic bags the cat litter comes in as a substitute mailer and I always keep a stash of kraft paper on hand in case I need to wrap a package for mailing. It’s amazing how much one can accomplish if you just take a few moments to work out the problem.

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