Macy’s, in an effort to cut down on the trash incorporated with shipping its products, has made the switch to biodegradable packing peanuts, which is only slightly less awesome than if they used actual peanuts.   The Consumerist, which is one of the billion plus Gawker Media blog sites that you’ve never heard of but is actually really good, has the story.

[Someone] ordered a cast iron pot from Macy’s and it got packed in these special packing peanuts which Macy’s says are 100% biodegradable. They’re made from corn and potato starch. Macy’s says you can dissolve them in water and pour in the garden, yard, sink, or toilet, or put them in the compost, put them in the ground, or simply throw them away where they will “dissolve in the landfill.”

That’s pretty rad.   Especially the being an active compost ingredient bit.   Excessive packaging is something that is both semi-ridiculous and mostly-avoidable, so companies that are moving away from that ought to be applauded.   For your personal life, you can and learn how to avoid products with excessive packaging.   And, remember, if you like when a company does something environmentally sound, greenissexy.org (which we profiled here), suggests you and use this template to send the company a nice thank you letter.

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