Packing Peanuts versus Void Fill Bags

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Making a mess can be fun.  Of course there is a time and place for everything, but for the most part, creating a little bit of chaos is enormously entertaining. So while I am moderately annoyed when I receive packing peanuts in shipments, I do appreciate the brief moments of pandemonium they provide. 

However, those brief moments of entertainment end just as quickly as they begin.

And then I'm just left cleaning up the mess, which is factually proven to be immensely less fun than creating the mess. And, much more time consuming.

So other than generating a short regression to childhood, what benefits are there to packing peanuts?  To be honest, not many. 

1. Packing peanuts take up a lot of room. And even though that's the purpose when packing up shipments, the downside is that even when you're not using the peanuts, they're still laying around taking up just as much space. And if you've ever sat in the middle seat on a fully packed plane going cross-country, you know just how valuable space is.
2. They're costly.  Google "packing peanuts" and shopping search results will show prices ranging from $12 to $20. Sounds like a good deal, right? Wrong!  Those prices are mostly for bags of containing 7 cubic feet (or worse, 3 cubic feet!) of peanuts. At best, you're paying $1.71 per cubic foot. Hardly a deal.
3. Recycling isn't the easiest. Manufacturers of packing peanuts have taken steps towards making more environmentally friendly products.  However, biodegradable peanuts haven't become the norm yet. Plus they are more expensive than standard polystyrene peanuts. So this leaves us with figuring out what to do with packing peanuts that just won't go away. Sure, you can learn how to recycle them or try to force them on someone else give them away. But either way, you'll spend more time trying to figure out how to get rid of them than actually using them. 

So why are Void Fill bags better?

1. Drastic space saver. Until you're actually ready to inflate and use Void Fill Bags, they remain completely flat. Depending on the size of the individual bag, a single case can contain between 100-500 pieces. So, while your bag of 7 cubic feet of peanuts is taking up 7 cubic feet of your precious space, one box of 100-500 bags fits into .84-1.52 cubic feet.  I'd like to see a mathemagician do that trick.
2. Makes your wallet smile. Remember how you have to pay $1.71 per cubic foot for packing peanuts (and that's if you're not getting the even more expensive biodegradable ones)? Well, Void Fill Bags range from $0.37-$3.21 per bag with cubic feet ranging from .18-11 per bag. Saving money, good.  Wasting money, bad.
3. Simple deflation and disposal. When the Void Fill bag has performed its duty, it can be easily returned to being flat through deflation (or slashing it with a box cutter Michael Myers style - I don't judge).  Once the air has been removed, Void Fill Bags can be placed in your recycling container alongside the rest of your plastic recyclables. 

But in their defense, packing peanuts aren't all horrible. Every cloud has a silver lining. For example, on April Fool's Day (or a co-worker's birthday or any random Tuesday really...) the entire office can join in the fun with this activity:

It's messy, disruptive, and side-splittingly hysterical. Now, I wish I could say that I was bold enough to attempt this, however I enjoy having a job and try not to make a habit of intentionally putting that in jeopardy.  Also, we don't have cubicles at IPI (thank goodness!).

Though, this one time I did filled a 10"x12" Void Fill Bag with water instead of air and created the most EPIC water bomb man has ever known! ("Water balloon" seems sooo juvenile.) And I will never possess a vocabulary that can adequately describe the elation that came from tossing that off the roof of our building. 

VF1012 Water Bomb - Before & After

It's fair to say that both packing peanuts and Void Fill Bags have the same function and purpose.  But when it comes to actually using it for packaging, Void Fill bags are superior to packing peanuts in virtually every way, especially in the areas of saving space, money, and the environment. To learn more about Inflatable Packaging's line of Void Fill Bags click here or call 1-800-520-3383 to speak to one of our expert salesmen.  And if you want to wreck havoc on society by means of ridiculously awesome water bombs, forge on young soldier!