One of our biggest and most important goals at Chimera Fight Exchange is to continually find ways to be environmentally conscious in our business practices. This means translating that pursuit and passion for a more sustainable life to everything from how our products are created and used to how we ship them out to you.
As much as we love the idea of having a fancy branded package delivered to your doorstep, complete with glossy marketing materials, stickers, and fancy tissue paper, we can't help but think of the excess materials that involves and the impact it will end up making on our environment. So, we decided, "why not take the minimalist route?" And with that, we ship your goods to you in 100% compostable corn-based poly mailers that are made to break down in your home compost heap or in any industrial compost. We've also printed our marketing materials on 100% recycled paper to help giving old paper new life.
What to do with your Compostable Poly Mailer
Now, you may be wondering "Okay, so what do I do with this mailer that says I can't recycle it?" Well, there are a few different things you can do with it!
Reuse Your Compostable Poly Mailer
The classic Step 2 in the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" mantra (with the 4th being "Rihanna", of course).
Our compostable poly mailers are still, in fact, virgin bioplastics. So, their journey to you was their first voyage out into the world. Even though they're great in that they're able to be composted, why not give it a chance to serve another purpose before going back into the earth?
Here are some great ways that you can reuse your mailer:
- Use it to bag your dirty gym clothes or shoes when packing them into your gym bag.
- Bring it with you when you take your dog out for a walk and use it as a poop bag. We don't know about you, but, we never say "no" to a free, compostable poop bag.
- Line a small trash can with it or bag your food scraps in it to put in the freezer until you can take to your local compost or community garden.
- Have something to ship? Remove our shipping labels and stick your own labels on to save yourself the cost of buying your own packaging.
Compost Your Compostable Poly Mailer
Once you feel like you've gotten the most out of your mailer and you're ready to compost it, here's how you can go about that.
- Remove all shipping labels.
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If you have your own compost bin at home -
Simply place it in with the rest of your scraps and let it do its thing! Compostable poly mailers usually take about 6 months to decompose in a home compost bin and 3 months in an industrial compost. -
If you don't have your own compost bin -
No worries! A local community compost or community garden is a quick Google search away! Check if they're accepting scraps and drop off your compostable goods with them and contribute to their compost heaps. -
Do you have a green waste bin?
You may be able to discard your compostable mailer in there but please be sure to check with your local waste management or city council to ensure that your county is equipped with the proper facilities and resources to accept the mailers as compost and dispose of them correctly.
"Can I just trash the poly mailer since it'll decompose anyway?"
Totally valid thought and one that had definitely crossed our minds as well. I mean, it makes sense that it shouldn't really be an issue to landfill the mailer as it'll decompose on its own, right? After doing some research, it turns out that tossing your poly mailer in the trash is possible but, just not the best way to get rid of it. So, please let this be your last resort in discarding your mailer.
Composting requires an environment that provides a specific level of heat, moisture, and bacteria to help it decompose back into the earth and all of those things aren't available in a landfill. Having the mailer sit in a landfill will not only slow down the process of decomposition, causing it to sit around in its dumping grounds for longer than it has to be, but it will also continue to contribute to our ever-growing landfill issue. It may also end up in the ocean, further contaminating our ecosystems. Unfortunately, bioplastics are still plastics. So when not composted properly and if let into the ocean, it will still behave like a regular piece of plastic and cause additional harm and pollution.
Whatever steps you end up taking, we thank you for being apart of our push to help shape a more sustainable future!