We hate packing peanuts. Hate. Them. There is nothing quite as frustrating as getting a package and tearing it open only to have little white fluffs o' frustration explode all over your living room like some kind of crazy pi?ata. Rather than getting to play with whatever fun thing you just received, you spend the next 20 minutes playing pick-up-sticks with foam peanuts before your cat inhales one and you end up at the after-hours pet ER for 11 hours (do I sound bitter? Sorry about that).
While we still have some leftover peanuts sneaking their way into SparkFun packages, we're happy to now ship with the fantastic paper from Geami - crinkly, shipping material goodness. This stuff is so much easier to get into than traditional packaging materials - making your electronic goodies that much easier to get to! It doesn't hurt that Geami products are compostable and recyclable - much rejoicing!
Here are a few pictures of just how much the shipping department enjoys the new material!
Did anyone order an Inventory Control Samurai (TJ's "official" title)?
After eluding his captors (who are clearly struggling to keep him in shackles) , TJ tries to use his ninja skills to escape.
Freeeeeeedom!
On a nice day we like to have the big over head doors open at my company. Forget the living room floor, do you know what a light breeze does to a box packed with these Little white snowman turds!?!?
Your not alone Sparkfun, we hate them too.
I have been using the Geami I receive in my sharp little red boxes for paper mache pulp sculpture projects. It works a charm and is just another way to mix "electronics" and art.
What to do with all those packing peanuts? Well, you can dissolve them in gasoline and make homemade Napalm.
Recyclable, schmecyclable!
Our cats simply don't care. They LOVE this stuff.
To them, the little red boxes are the packing material.
-e
Good job, Sparkfun! Those non-recyclable packing peanuts were my only complaint with you.
TI/Dallas Semi have been shipping samples in this stuff for ages, I just never knew what it was called - props to you guys for using it, I just love the stuff.
--neg
Love the Geami - I despise packing peanuts.
The stuff makes it easier to find my goods!
Having received my shipment today I have to wonder if my box is sitting open on that table... and if the little wad of geami in it was once wrapped around that Samurai.
Thanks for using this stuff by the way, packing peanuts are of the devil.
You're welcome! We're glad that you share our dislike for packing peanuts - they really are evil.
You guys are totally just recycling old Digikey packaging that's been building up, aren't you? :P
Peanuts. I'm with you guys - they are a plague.
Amazon is using those air filled bag things. Works well, adds little weight and is very effective. Great for making loud pops. Too bad it's petroleum based...
By the way I always save packing materials and use them when sending packages. No need to buy stuff for that.
and my wife thanks you as well for me not making... a evil white static stick to everything clinging peanut mess on the floor as usual :)
I'd like to use it...been a fan ever since Digikey started using it years back. But it's hard to find, Uline has a few similar products but for my business appropriate box sizing and foam peanuts are still the cheapest fill. The Uline 20cu bag is about $20 (plus flat-rate shipping, so we order a lot of stuff at the same time).
Anyway, it's great that you're using it...where do you buy it?
Kudos to any company getting rid of the little white devils known as packaging peanuts. There is nothing worse than getting a new package, and pulling it out only to see little white puffs sticking everywhere.
So thats what the name of the material is...
Got my package on Saturday, and now I'm trying to figure out how this could be incorporated into my next electrical project...
Ken Rockwell recommends air & air alone. Bubble wrap is the way to do it. Paper just compresses & never resets, so once it hits the floor, it's worthless. Having said that, paper is much cheaper - I mean better for the environment.