Packing Peanuts Recycling

Last week Chris got a package that was quite large and full of packing peanuts (yes, there was of course the folding chair he ordered in there as well). I felt really bad about throwing all of those away because it was a pretty sizable box, so I hopped online to see if there were any places that recycled them.

I found this site: The Plastic Loose Fill Council

On there, I searched for places in Minnesota that reuse those and found out that there are places in Minnesota that do. We dropped it off at the UPS store off Grand and Lexington in St. Paul.

I wanted to write a post about it because I never would have guessed that there were places around that did that, especially large businesses, and since they rarely advertise these things, I felt I should get it out there.

I've been more and more interested about recycling and I find it really depressing how little we can actually recycle (I'm primarily thinking of plastics). And most plastics are only able to be recycled once! I'm trying to figure out more ways to reduce my dependence on plastics, including buying milk cartons made out of cardboard rather than plastic since that cardboard is now recyclable.

It of course depends on the recycling program in your neighborhood what is accepted or not. I was also heartbroken to find that plastic bags are not recyclable. The recycle symbol on many products are merely telling someone what type of plastic an object was made out of rather than denoting its recyclability. Little by little, I'm learning more and trying to make more conscious choices.