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Is this intended for recycling, as in the physical and chemical breakdown and reuse as a new recycled material? Bubble wrap is usually popped.. I used to work in a shipping manager capacity and "got over" bubble wrap, but we reused as much packing materials as we could. I had to wonder whether this is somewhere you can bring your popped bubble wrap, or somewhere that only accepts unpopped bubble wrap for reuse.

I had a few in-store customers at the time who could not refrain from popping my packing materials whilst I was multi-tasking, and I had to tell them to stop, because, you know, people wanted shipped their paid for vintage lamps and door hardware and whatnot - this is not an idle toy for you! Irresistible!

So yeah, I inquire as to whether the bubble wrap can be enjoyed again if already used for some recreation.

Yeah, looks like not! Don't pop it, someone else is going to use that!

thanks for this. i know there are many authors on this site and i enjoy all the posts but it is funny to see some products highlighted during "green month" that seem...not so green? i'm guilty - i like shiny new stuff too. it is just good to know where it will all end up someday and if it will be re-cycled or down-cycled or what.

akostalas: it's hard to balance out content for this month, as most everyone probably knows that most products are in one form or another not ecologically friendly, and yet we like to share designs and products that fall outside of this designation occasionally. Your criticism was duly noted and I thought I owed you and everyone else at least an option for these sort of materials. So I thank you for bringing the subject up!

You could do a little more homework, i.e. highlighting exactly what can't actually be recycled instead of making a feel-good greenwashing post.

Okay, everyone, give your bubble wrap to me! I ship lots of breakable stuff and reuse whatever material I can. There's lots of people on freecycle who would take some of this stuff highlighted here...Reusing is better than recycling.

I've given away plastic CD cases away on freecycle and I always re-use my shipping materials...I keep a stash of broken down boxes, peanuts, bubble wrap and bubble envelopes under my desk in case I need to ship out something on ebay. If I ever run out, there is always someone on freecycle just giving packing materials away.

K T G: In regards what can or cannot be recycled, this was skipped because this varies from city to city, state to state. A google search specific to your area will likely bring you specific details you might desire.

We've posted a few times what is being accepted as recyclable here in Los Angeles through our sanitation department.

Every time I've posted "free bubble wrap" on craigslist, it's gone within minutes. Seriously, folks ... bubble wrap is one of the easiest things to get rid of productively!

For those who want to have some fun while not destroying the usefulness of their bubble wrap, try this: http://fun.from.hell.pl/2003-11-24/bubblewrap.swf

My local packing store guy loves to get packing peanuts, bubble wrap and those air bags. It saves him from having to buy it.

In Santa Cruz, CA you can put bubble wrap in your regular recycling bin. It always helps to call your cities recycling program to tell them what they should consider adding.