Packing material

Uncommon Packaging: The Basics

We get a lot of questions from our customers about our packaging and the amount of packing materials we use. Sustainability and customer service are at the heart of our business, and packaging is a careful balance of both. We have done extensive research to find the most environmentally friendly packaging at the best value. And while our packaging materials might seem excessive, we want to ensure that your items are not damaged in shipping.

What's in your mailbox?

88% of our packages are sent in recycled cardboard boxes sealed with paper tape. These boxes are made from 95% recycled paper and 55% post-consumer content.

The remaining 12% of UncommonGoods packages are sent in recycled newsprint mailers. Once you've opened your package, you can discard the mailer with mixed paper recycling.

Giving a gift?

Our gift boxes are made from recycled paper, tied with a recycled paper ribbon, and padded with recycled paper filler.

Jewelry

We place our jewelry in recycled cardboard boxes.

Vendors

About 25% of our vendors ship us products in materials that we don't consider to be environmentally friendly. We repackage about half of those to send them to you. The materials we don't use - like Styrofoam, cardboard, and plastic - get sent to a waste facility that sorts and recycles everything it can.

We're also encouraging our vendors to use more environmentally friendly materials. We take pride that more than half of our products are eco-friendly or handmade; we're working to make sure that's true for our packaging too.

We are always on the lookout for better packaging options.

Got an idea or question? Please email us at sustain@uncommongoods.com.