What do I do with these dissolving packing peanuts?

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I ordered some things from Williamsburg as Christmas presents and they arrived today (YEAH!). The paccking box was FILLED with "packing peanuts," and I wondered outloud what I was to do with them. One of my sons asked if they were the kind that dissolved in water, so we plopped it into a bowl of water to check it out. Low and behold, it dissolved in front of our eyes! Very cool.

SO>>>>what is this stuff made of? Is it biodegradeable? Can I put it in the compost heap, or just in the trash? I don't think the local recycling center does packing peanuts. Williamsburg backordered some stuff, and it is suposed to be here next week, so there is more where this stuff came from!

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), December 08, 2000

Answers

Well leann I save mine for packaging my own things.If they dissolve they should be starch, last I knew. I've also shredded styrofoam for mixing in with potting soil.So either way there are some garden uses.

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), December 08, 2000.

Our co-op uses these-theya re made out of cornstarch and you can put that down your drain dissolving them in warm water. We checked and this is not supposed to give any problems to septic systems.

Hope that helps, Sarah

-- sarah (heartsong85@juno.com), December 08, 2000.


The ones I have received have been made from potato and I put them in the compost pile and water them down. No ill effects.

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@excite.com), December 08, 2000.

Do you know anyone who sells stuff on ebay? My friend has a retail store, and she saves the 'peanuts' for me. Beats paying $6 for a garbage bag full!

-- Kathy (catfish@bestweb.net), December 08, 2000.

Use them for all your Christmas oranaments and decorations when you are packing them away for the season!

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), December 08, 2000.


mail boxes ect. will take from you,, if you have one around

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), December 08, 2000.

I just compost mine. I don't like them for long-term storage like christmas ornaments, because they shrink as they are exposed to variable humidity -- unless you're in a very dry climate.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), December 09, 2000.

I don't mail too many things, and I'll bet the starch sould draw mice if I used them in storage; we seem to have an abundance of the little varmits. I think I'll try the compost...my poor pile needs lots of help!

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), December 09, 2000.

While they are now called 'peanuts', they were originally called 'popcorn'. Actually, during WW-II the military did used popped popcorn as packaging material for spare parts. However, they found the native population would salvage them for food and oil drips, etc. were making some ill, so it was stopped.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 09, 2000.

Its the Season. Around here we call it ....Snowman Poop....And into the compost heap we go!..

-- JR (jr3star@earthlink.net), December 10, 2000.


Check with someone who works in a shipping & receiving department. I do and it seems to be either feast or famine with packing material!

Michael in North-West Pennsylvania

-- Michael W. Smith (KIRKLBB@PENN.COM), December 10, 2000.


Can you believe I saw them for SALE in an arts and crafts store. They were packaged as childrens building components! The directions said to moisten and stick them together. They were priced at $5.99 for about a gallon size bag. So SELL them! =)

-- Diane Cotton (soccerdude@earthlink.com), December 13, 2000.

We used the colored version for crafts at church camp one day this past summer.All the kids really loved them,and some of the kids made some really neat things with them.We had wet sponges on the tables for the kid's to dip parts of their "peanuts" in.~~Tracy~~

-- Tracy Jo Neff (tntneff@ifriendly.com), December 14, 2000.

Toss them up into the attic for added insulation!

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), December 15, 2000.

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