Alrighty pal. Spill the beans. We discussed screws but something more important has come up. What is the packing foam made from?
That is currently TBD mainly due to the time and supplier crunch we're seeing right now. CAD files for packing foams have been sent to various suppliers, and we're waiting for samples of the packaging foams to arrive. We have to do durability testing against the parts before we can lock in the foam. The options before us are:
1. Recycled EVA foam - (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate) , it is the
least environmentally friendly option I'd be willing to use, but also has the highest density, which *may* be necessary. I won't know until I can test samples directly with parts. It also happens to feel the nicest. Those of you lucky few who unboxed an FE card recently, have felt this stuff. It's nice, and has a luxurious feel with little yield, but I would prefer to use something less environmentally damaging.
2. Recycled PE foams (EPE and XPE) (Polyethylene / X-linked Poylethylene) - These are foams with much lower carbon impact, and are nice and stiff, but may not be the most rigid, or the strongest foams available right now. They feel less nice than the EVA foams, and tend to degrade faster. While stiff and having little yield, they can break / degrade. I've seen these in varying densities, but none quite as stiff as the EVA foams.
EVA and PE are *both* recyclable, but are usually not recycled in considerable volume. To make these greener then they would
usually be,
we're going specifically with recycled EVA or Recycled PE. We wanted to encourage recyclers by providing the market with another company who wants to use recycled-product-based packaging, and to potentially explore if there's room for a closed loop approach here.
3. Cellulose Foams (corn product foams) - These are biodegradable foams, made from corn products. The nice part about these is that they're compostable, and dissolve quite quickly in water.
The downside of these... they aren't as strong, which is concerning when it comes to packing a heavy stack of metal parts. I want to use them, and plan to unless they are unable to protect the parts. If we do use them, they can literally be used as plant food, or dissolved so fast you can put them in the sink, and run hot water over them to make the foam go away. This is fantastic for the planet. Plants are a renewable resource, and a carbon sink.
4. Pulp Packing Inserts (potato or bamboo product heat-formed paper-inserts) -- These are nice, in that they are heat formed from a mold. The issue we're running into here is that said molds take a bit of time to develop, and the companies that do this have pretty similar lead times. we're running against a time barrier, which is a big concern. Second, paper-pulp processes use a decent bit more water, compared to the cellulose foam stuff.
---------------------
So how will this work?
Our Preference Order (most to least desirable) is: #3 -> #4 -> #2 -> #1.
The green options: #3 and #4 are the two top choices, in that order. Currently, Pulp Packing lead times are outside our shipping deadline, so it's being evaluated for batch 2 or 3, while we work with these companies to make the molds. Cellulose Foams (and other biodegradable foams of similar type) we have samples of, incoming, and quotes on the way. If samples of Cellulose Foam are not strong enough, we will have to go with recycled EPE. If the EPE or the other green options are
still not strong enough to protect the parts, then we will have to go with recycled EVA foams, until we can find a better alternative (potentially layers of heat formed pulp trays).
I don't like having to use EPE or EVA foams, as they are petroleum products, but they are actually recyclable, and we will be using the recyclable stock material to minimize impact.
In either case, we will offset the extra carbon emissions with more trees. <3
---------------------
Foams/Materials we are NOT using:
PS (Polystyrene), PVC (Polyvinylchloride), and, PU foam (Polyurethane) -- these are horrific for the environment, and bad for you (the user). No one should use them. some release chlorine, cynates, and other fun toxic compounds like PVC. Some also form coarse particles that, if breathed in, can cause asthma flare-ups. We are going to be avoid these.
---------------------
I hope that discussion answers your question... If you have other ideas, please float them to me! <3
