I have used brown paper bags in the past to rewrap boxes for shipping, but I never thought of making shipping envelopes from brown bags. This genius packaging idea reuses plastic grocery bags for waterproofing and brown paper bags to make the outer envelope. My favorite part is the stitching to close it up. No glue or tape necessary!
This fabulous eco packaging idea from Linda Everett of LindaEve and the Eco Etsy Team. Linda developed this packaging to use for her beautiful bags made from neckties and repurposed fabrics. She shares a complete tutorial for making your own grocery bag shipping envelopes on the Eco Etsy Blog. She recommends wrapping the item to be shipped in a plastic grocery bag first to provide some waterproofing. But don’t tape the plastic bag, just wrap the item inside it, so the bag can be reused again by the recipient. The outer envelope is cut from a brown paper bag. You will probably get two envelopes per bag, more if your items are small. Instead of tape or glue, simply stitch the seams shut for a great handmade touch.
The Eco Etsy team is a group of Etsy sellers dedicated to reducing, reusing, and recycling. They are committed to using recycled materials in both their products and packaging. The Eco Etsy Blog is a great resource for eco-tips, product features, and how-to’s for all crafters and artists trying to go green.
P.S. Use your leftover brown paper bag scraps to make recipe cards or seed packet business cards.
[Images by Linda Everett for Eco Etsy Blog]
that is such a great idea. 🙂
OMG this is total genius. I love it!
Hey Jackie – thanks for sharing my tute!
–Linda
I love this idea. I am thinking about incorporating it for my organic t-shirt business. I was thinking how exactly can I make it even more efficient. Do you just collect these bags and accumulate them? I love this idea. Thank you so much Jackie Hernandez and Linda Everett.
Elizabeth
I think this is a great idea. It is a perfect way to reuse the bags from the stores.
LOVE this idea! I’ll be linking.
Love this idea, and it’s so well-executed. Great job, Linda! (and yay EcoEtsy!)
The stitching is a great touch.
I was totally thinking the same thing when I was taping up an envelope out of a paper grocery bag, “This could be great packaging! I’d never have to buy those pesky ‘catalog envelopes’ ever again!”
What a coincidence. EcoEtsy team just posted my tutorial on how to convert magazine (or catalog) pages to inner envelopes to ship items. A similar concept.
http://ecoetsy.blogspot.com/2009/04/eco-tutorial-recycled-inner-envelopes.html
Happy Earth Day!
karen
Wow, I never thought about that. Thanks for the great idea!
I use up old phone books by running the pages through my paper shredder and using the strips to cushion my mobiles. Much more Earth friendly than those nasty little styrofoam peanuts and, better yet, it’s free so it keeps shipping costs down! 🙂
Great idea! I will certainly use it… Thanks!
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What a great idea!!!!! thanks
this is great for those odd sized packages i need to send out.
I love this idea! I am always running to buy mailing envelopes/packaging at the last minute. This is a great way to not only save me money, but use what I already have. Thanks 🙂
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My head is spinning with ideas… I love this!! Thanks for sharing!!
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