Never buy packaging materials again: Program to reuse packaging materials approaches two-year anniversary

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November 19, 2019
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November 2019 marks the two-year anniversary of a program developed on campus to reuse the uber amounts of packaging materials shipped in boxes to the University of Iowa on a daily basis. The program came as a collaboration with Mailboxes of Iowa City in an attempt to provide the business with packing materials which they can reuse as a shipping and packaging store.  

At launch, four bins were placed throughout the Seamans Center with the hope to expand across campus with increased funding. Once these bins have accumulated enough packaging materials to fill it up, Mailboxes of Iowa City is contacted to come and empty the bins at the given location. Since the start, the program has expanded to multiple locations throughout campus, not isolated to the Seamans Center. 

The packaging materials are brought back to Mailboxes of Iowa City's location where Keriann, one of their employees said, "We reuse these materials in the packages we send out for our customers to fill up extra space in boxes and/or add protection to items.” 

The program was a hit from the start according to Rachel Marek, who helped implement the bins on campus. 

"It's been quite popular since the beginning" Marek said of the convenient bins which staff can throw their extra packaging into. The program has expanded to the Tippie College of Business, but mostly within the College of Engineering, to the Engineering Research Facility, the Stanley Hydraulics Lab, and Engineering Annexes. 

While the program originally provided blue, 13-gallon bins, new implementations have included a variety of bins, with the annex building their own custom-designed bins. In the light of sustainability, bins can be any container with the capacity to hold packaging materials for a building. 

Marek emphasized the idea that these packaging materials are being reused rather than recycled as they advertised at its launch. The materials aren't being broken down and made into something new as would occur in recycling, but reused in their current state. The materials which are accepted in the bins include packing peanuts, air pockets, bubble wrap, and Styrofoam/starch. Materials placed in bins must be in good condition, without damage from any outside source. Materials which can't be accepted are packaging fitted for specific products.

Mailboxes in Iowa City picks up materials to be reused, but students and staff are free to pick from the bins as well. The bins are often located in low traffic and hidden areas of buildings so they aren't going to be obvious out in the open. This is to avoid contamination of the bins. In high traffic areas, students and staff are more likely to mistake the bins for a trash can which would contaminate all of the materials which would then have to be thrown away. People who know about the bins are able to find them, which allows them to serve their purpose without risking banned materials from entering them. 

When it comes to tracking the amount of materials emptied for reusing, Marek takes the 13-gallon bins and converts the volume into cubic feet. Because packaging material doesn't weigh much, those numbers don't resonate with people when explaining how much material is being saved. Marek rather compares the volume to the size of refrigerators, so people are able to visualize exactly how much is saved. 

With this program, the UI is neither losing nor gaining money but rather saving staff time in addition to saving the environment. It provides convenient places to empty extra packaging as well as pick it up quickly. When fragile items need to be packaged or spaces need to be filled, don't hesitate to find one of the bins on campus to find materials to fill your needs.
 

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