What to do with jiffy bags?

[RobinP]

Can they be recycled? I haven't tried it, yet, but can you remove the bubble-wrap from inside the bag?

[svenrufus]

Maybe try a second hand book store near you and see if they want them - I have one outlet that does a lot of mailouts and needs stuff like this for packaging. The waste hierarchy is 'Reduce, Re-use, Recylce', so this moves the old envelopes one higher up the chain, - and has the added benefit of making the final disposal someone elses problem

[LynM]

I keep some on the basis that they come in useful! Unfortunately, some are already second or third hand and no use to man nor beast! I've not tried taking the bubble wrap out, I simply put them out with the other paper and, to date, no comebacks....

[RobinP]

Hmm, maybe no comebacks but there is a danger the whole load will be rejected by the recyclers if the paper is found to contain plastic. Most councils seem to advise re-use as they are not recyclable.

[eeyore]

offer them on your local freecycle group - someone will take them.

[tameblackbirds]

Originally Posted by LynM

I keep some on the basis that they come in useful! Unfortunately, some are already second or third hand and no use to man nor beast! I've not tried taking the bubble wrap out, I simply put them out with the other paper and, to date, no comebacks....

we even have to remove the plastic windows from envelopes as this effects the batch but sad fact is plastic window has to go in bin as know one recycles it

[RoseStones]

Originally Posted by eeyore

offer them on your local freecycle group - someone will take them.

Yes yes yes yes yes, it's incredible what people will use from Freecycle. I've seen bags of broken obsolete computer parts taken like lightening from our local Freecycle group.

We just reuse our Jiffies - just print out the postage label to save having to cross out the old address and scribble in the new one - tape/stick the white printed out label over the old (presumably your home) address. Bonza, no-one will ever know

As for getting the plastic away from the card, good luck as I've never managed it!

[sunnydale]

I usually disguise small Xmas gifts in jiffy bags....like CD's, DVD'S, Jewellery etc. I even wrap extra padding (a tea-towel) around the gift before I put it in. Works with smaller cardboard boxes too!

So much more fun when the person expecting a CD or a certain gift thinks they haven't got it!

I save jiffy's and small boxes just for wrapping time at Xmas.

[RED]

It all depends on the type of jiffy as to whether the bubblewrap can be removed or not.(Usually the cheaper brand jiffy style bags can but the actual jiffy ones can't) I've bought hundreds of things from ebay etc and used to keep all the bags in the shed, until the time came for me to sell loads of stuff, and like LynM, alot of them were very tatty and thoroughly used, although the bubbles were mostly fine/adequate for extra protection.
The easiest way to tell if the bubblewrap can be removed is quite simple, stick your hand inside and pull on the bubblewrap, if it pulls the paper outer, they've probably been glued together. (I usually pull the paper outer with one hand and the bubble with another as older bags sometimes stick together but aren't stuck together if you get my drift =p) if it doesn't pull the paper outer, its usually only been glued around the edges so you can snip the top off, then carefully pull away the paper outer, leaving the bubblewrap pretty much intact and ready to use again.
(I used that inside a new jiffy for extra protection for fragile things.)