Capitol Hill, stop popping your bubble wrap! Alan Goldwasser can reuse it. A private consigner for Amazon and resident of Capitol Hill for twenty years, Goldwasser is revolutionizing local shipping and mailing methods by reusing second-hand packaging supplies around Capitol Hill. 

“One of the bummers with [online business] is that we’re all shipping stuff in plastic mailers, and none of those mailers are recyclable,” Goldwasser said.

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This man wants your padded mailers

Indeed, Seattle Public Utilities  cannot recycle those handy manila mailing envelopes lined with bubble wrap because the paper and plastic cannot be separated from each other. The recycling facility then spends more money and energy separating those items from the rest of the recycling, only to throw them in the trash. 

This trash builds up quickly, too, and Goldwasser did the math to prove it. 

“Let’s say 150,000 sellers send out 20 things per day on average, it’s like a billion bubble mailers a year, and that’s only third-party sellers on Amazon,” Goldwasser said. “And that’s not even taking into account eBay!”

To diminish this problem, Goldwasser connects with many individuals and several organizations and businesses, including Seattle Independent International Film Festival (SIFF), Windermere, and Retrofit Home, who now save all of the packaging they receive for Goldwasser to pick up and reuse for his own mailing service. 

Retrofit Home also recently became the new drop-off spot for local residents to leave their used packaging. Feel free to leave bubble mailers, foam wrap, bubble wrap and other non-recyclable or recyclable mailing products with Retrofit (no peanuts or air pillow packers allowed) to aid in the cause. Retrofit Home is located on 12th and Union, but will be moving to 11th and Pike this spring.

Businesses like Retrofit receive a lot of packaging material when they order furniture and other merchandise, which they would otherwise throw away if it weren’t for the reuse plan, Goldwasser said.

“They call me, and I pick it up. Why not use it again instead?”

The reuse of these materials also creates a resource of free mailing material for Goldwasser, making the reuse of these products a lucrative endeavor. However, he says even if it weren’t free, “I would still do it just to reuse it. It may make the package look less spiffy, but I’ve been getting some really good feedback.”  

Goldwasser has a created an environmentally friendly business model that he hopes to expand. Although he does not know what to expect now, he says, “It could get to be bigger. If it gets bigger, I’m gonna ride the ride.” 

If you are interested in giving away your used packaging material, contact Alan Goldwasser at [email protected] or (206) 579-8110.