If a (small online) shop asked you to send your packaging bacm - would you?

[KatyMac]

My idea is that if I send an item I have made, in a recycleable plastic envelope and wrapped with cloth inside and an addressed envelope

Then they could return the cloth (& envelope if they want) to me and I would credit £1 back to their account

Then I can re-use the cloth (dispose of the plastic correctly) & they get a refund which will partly cover the postage (£1)

The travel back to you and washing the cloth each time to ensure it is hygienic for the next person is wasteful as well. Could you make a cotton 'wash bag' to go with each order that the receiver can use for their delicates. They would be reminded of your business each time they use it. Just slightly mark up your postage to cover the cost.

What are you selling, and how many a month? Could you buy up tea towels or table cloths from charity shops and cut them up and use them?

2 or 3 a month (maybe)

That is what I make the dresses out of

If I wrap in fabric loads of people will put it into landfill if I don't offer an alternative option

Like these

No, i would just wrap it in biodegradable brown paper. Then it doesn't matter what happens to the packaging and people aren't posting things back and forth.

Cardboard sleeve / backing to keep nicer. Or a note to buyers to explain your packaging before sales, or with the garment. I’m sure if it mattered to the buyer they’d accept your reasoning, perfectly acceptable I’d say.

I like brown paper but does it not need to be waterproof?

I'm going to be honest and say it's highly unlikely I would a) post back the packaging unless there was a pre-addressed and pre-paid envelope and I was literally walking past a postbox, and b) your products look like they would be occasional or one-off purchases. Whilst credit is always good, unless I had my eye on something else it's unlikely that credit of £1 would motivate me. The admin involved in tracking what bag was sent with which order and matching up returns whilst maintaining a log of credits could also be a real headache.

Why not use normal cardboard boxes? If you post out your products signed for then it's less likely that the packaging would be exposed to the elements. These come in a variety of sizes which would do all but the puffiest dresses and are entirely recyclable. A lot of my Etsy/independent purchases feature a thank you note- you could add in a line or something saying "help play it forward and please recycle this box" or something. And instead of tissue paper, what about pages of old magazines or something? Sunday Times Style or Culture supplements spring to mind, but you could ask friends or relatives to keep copies for you if they get something similar.

I've ended up with so much stuff I meant to return to Amazon because I never got round to it

Not only me then

Recycled cardboard boxes, they can be re used by the customer or recycled again.

If it’s in a post bag it should be waterproof already. Why not use offcuts of material from your tablecloths to make a sort of ribbon. Tie it round the folded dress to attach a little handwritten label thanking them for their custom. Then straight in a post bag. Minimal weight, minimal expense and uses up offcuts.
Alternatively pages of a Sunday paper magazine supplement sounds good.

Ribbon wrap is a good idea, I’d also be happy with brown paper wrapped with string. It would go with the vibe of the dresses. Then if they’re posted in those ‘coated’ type postal envelopes they’re waterproof

Just wrap up in brown paper?

I don't want to buy anything new that rules out tissue paper, butcher's paper and brown paper

Would receiving a dress in a ribbon be enough? I'll practise later and show you a picture - I have thousands of ribbons (the ribbon for hanging up clothes!)

Won't the dress get dirty and damaged if it's not wrapped up in something else?

If we are all serious about not wanting the planet to go to hell in a hand basket, we need to stop worrying about the hygiene of recycled packaging NOW

I'd be more tempted to get some shoppers made with your logo, and send everything out in one

I've got ridiculous numbers of cloth bags already. Posher waste, TBH. I've had gifts which come in bags... you don't feel like you can bin them but honestly they're not much use.

If your packaging isn't waterproof, then you'd have to think about what might happen to the contents if the parcel gets wet - is everything inside colourfast?

There's a reason for the ubiquity of plastic in packaging - it protects the contents.

What’s the point of the cloth if it’s in a plastic bag? Seems like a waste to me, and I can’t see that posting the cloth back, washing it and reusing is in any way ‘better’ for the environment than just using the recycled plastic envelope on its own.

It feels a bit ‘jumping on the environmental bandwagon gimmick‘ if I’m honest.

I think I'd rather get something in a (clean!) plastic bag for life than cloth - better protection, and more useful to me.

Can you roll the dress, secure with ribbon, then use the smallest piece of plastic to wrap? I'm thinking a roll of plastic, like wrapping paper, cut to size sort of thing?

If we're trying to save the planet, surely the dress rolled up and tied with ribbon delivered by carrier pigeon on a fair weather day is the greenest solution? Not to mention the most romantic. The pigeon would have to be encouraged to 'go' before setting out, for obvious reasons. You really need to be looking into the option of carrier pigeons NOW.

You do realise that cotton doesn’t come from the UK either? It’s also a devastating crop in that it is very thirsty, requires defoliants for harvesting and, destroys the soil that it grows on it it isn’t alternately farmed with an enriching crop like tobacco or something. I would stick to the tissue paper.

Couple of suggestions:

• biodegradable, compostable cellophane www.eco-craft.co.uk/500mm-x-5m-roll-clear-cellulose-film.html

• get some beeswax pellets, coat the cotton squares, you can do this yourself either by ironing them onto the fabric or in the oven, loads of tutorials online. Add a couple of pounds mark up on the dress prices and advertise as the packaging being re-usable as sandwich wraps/ cling film alternative.

• raid charity shops for second hand scarves/wraps for 50p - £1 each and use those

@barearsedloverofthigh - Right away, or would a kitten be more cute?

@BogglesGoggles vintage cotton doesn't tho' it exists already and can be re-used without guily or harm (well only the harm of washing it in a full load with other clothing)

OK

I have bought recyclable plastic bags, I will fold/wrap dresses with a ribbon

I do not want to buy new tissue/brown paper/clear plastic etc

Although I do love the idea of biodegradeable cellophane I don't want to buy anything new that I don't have to @Lwmommy; the using the scarf from a charity shop was my idea but then people returning it to re-use.....which apparently is not a 'thing'

I can't do wax wraps as that is another thing I would like to sell - but I will think on that , as I don't want to but new cotton and people have a thing for using 'old' preused material

If I start selling more I will move to biodegradable posting bags but currently t hey are a wasteful expense as I can only buy 100 at a time and they only last 6 months so most would be binned/degraded without being used

Just had a possible brainwave. I have several unwanted paper dress patterns that I've got free on sewing magazines, in sizes or styles I can't use. Pm me you address and I can post them to you. You can then use those as wrapping, and they are very often very very cheap in charity shops when you need more. You'd probably get 2 or 3 dresses wrapped out of one pattern.

What a lovely idea @Lwmommy - I can look out for them and use them

They are tissue so not harmful for the clothes and reused to appeasing my need for green/eco and they are relevant to the subject matter (sewing)

You are officially a genius!! And I have a supply I was going to try and sell but some are not complete or torn so I can use them

And fold them nicely so it looks good