Green Moving and Packing Tips for New Yorkers Headed to Albany in 2011

While some of New York’s 2010 midterm election results have veterans sticking around, quite a few newly elected statesman are about to head upstate for the first time. Among them of course is Andrew Cuomo, who’ll be headed back to New York Governor’s Executive Mansion in Albany not as a first kid, but as the head honcho.  Being New York moving experts, we’re here to offer Governor-elect Cuomo some timely moving and packing tips to help ease his transition into his new digs – and we’re going to help him do it the green way!

Green Moving and Packing Tips for New Governor Andrew Cuomo:

• Don’t Just Pack – Sort or Clear Out! Moving is an opportunity to cull through your belongings and see what you actually need. Instead of throwing unwanted belongings away, why not donate it to a local charity instead? Social giving AND recycling – those are two political platforms we can get behind. What you can’t part with – put in storage like ours for safekeeping.
• Think Less Stuff, Less Impact. The 154-year-old Executive Mansion is the first historic governor’s residence in the country to earn LEED Gold status. Governor Cuomo can help lower the fuel consumption of his vehicle as it makes the 3-hour drive from Mount Kisco to Albany by bringing less stuff.
• Bring Peanuts For the Move, But Not the Packing Kind. We all know that non-biodegradable Styrofoam makes great packing materials but won’t keep you on the greener side of the moving spectrum. If you have fragile things that require special packing, our storage advisors are here to help with solutions that are great for everyone – the environment. For example, can you pad that lamp with your towel collection, instead? Or, try buying starch-based biodegradable packing peanuts from among the other moving and packing supplies we offer.

If anyone has any other moving tips for Governor Cuomo, let’s hear ‘em! And remember, if you ever feel like following in his footsteps, we’ll help you pack up your stuff and store it for you too!

Celebrate Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day!

Who could resist? Photograph: Getty Images

Indulge in the simple pleasures of bubble wrap on Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, Monday January 25, 2010!

A Brief History of Bubble Wrap

In the wild and woolly world of packaging material development, bubble wrap was a colossal breakthrough. It all began, as these stories often do, in small garage in New Jersey where two engineers were attempting to create paper backed plastic wallpaper. Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding labored away, confident their plastic walls would appeal to the masses and make them rich in the process.

Well, the wallpaper never took off, but the world soon learned how useful this product would be as a shock absorber in shipping packages. And how bizarrely relaxing it is to sit around and mindlessly pop away…just why is that, anyway? Really, we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of bubble wrap’s myriad possibilities!

Bubble Wrap Makes Good Neighbors

Imagine this…a beautiful day, the sun is shining, and you stretch and open your eyes only to see your hirsute neighbor across the way stumbling around in his skivvies. Yeccch. There goes your perfect morning. Well, guess what? Not only will a nice layer of bubble wrap insulate your windows, but it will also form a lovely visual barrier between you and Mister Way-Too-Much-Back-Hair. So use that leftover holiday bubble wrap by cutting it to the size of your windows.  Spray a thin layer of water on the window and apply the bubble wrap, bubble side to the window, while the window is still wet.  You can then wave good-bye to your neighbor and smile as you get ready for your day.

Need a Costume, Pronto? Break out the Bubble Wrap!

No Sew Costumes From Halloween 2000, Fall 2000 Martha Stewart

When you are at a loss for costume ideas, you can always make things out of bubble wrap. Try this bubble wrap jellyfish costume.  All you need is a white shirt and pants/skirt/etc…a clear umbrella and some bubble wrap and voila!  Just add some evil bubble wrap tentacles to your bumbershoot and you’re suddenly a menace from the deep.

Bubble Wrap Could Save Your Life

Want to indulge in some watery fun, but don’t know how to swim? Just roll yourself in bubble wrap, baby!  Sure, it might require assistance from some friends, but that’s all part of the fun. Next thing you know, you’ll be floating about with not a care in the world.  And consider bringing an emergency roll of bubble wrap roll along with you on your next boat outing.  When your friend ends up overboard, toss him a bubble wrap lifeline. Check out this video to learn how to use bubble wrap as a floatation device:

Share the Bubbly Love!

Buy bubble wrap rolls and host a theme party.  Let the creativity bubble over as you find new ways to use the wonder that is bubble wrap. Send a pic our way or post them to Manhattan Mini Storage Facebook Page! We will be making a Top Ten List of Uses for Bubble Wrap in the upcoming months!

And of course, remember to keep a bubble wrap roll under your desk so you can enjoy hours of stress relief. Ahhhh…the sweet, soothing feeling of popping those little bubbles…more interactive than watching fish and cheaper than a massage!

Are you celebrating Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day?

It’s on Monday January 25, 2010 this year!

What to do with All that Bubble Wrap after Moving?

Bubble wrap packaging has changed civilization forever, and we ought to consider ourselves blessed as a species to have had the minds of its inventors Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes among us.  Little did they know that they had singlehandedly created one of the most useful, powerful, and amusing things humanity will ever experience.  Bubble wrap rolls (as you can already tell, these divine devices go by many names, but we all know what is being spoken of) are without limit in their use; indeed, the only limitations of bubble wrap rolls are those brought about by the users’ imaginations.

What you are going to see here is but a small sample of bubble wrap packaging’s innumerable functions.  Hopefully, these examples will stir your thoughts for further uses of bubble wrap after you have finished employing the bubble wrap for it’s intended protective uses.

Bubble Wrap Bags as Fashion

Bubble wrap rolls truly shine when they are donned by those whose fashion sense is nothing less than exceptional.  It is saddening for the fashion world that more people do not see the inherent value of this material.  The following should make anyone who considers themselves as having an above average sense of style utterly speechless:Incredible.  If you were able to both protect your goods and make an awesome hat with your bubble wrap packaging, wouldn’t you take this material much more seriously?   

It’s not quite over yet, nor will it ever be for bubble wrap rolls.  Another fine example of bubble wrap packaging’s fashion capabilities will also be displayed here.  Perhaps it is even more jaw dropping than the hat.

What does one wear under their Bubble Wrap Pants? Bubble Wrap underwear perhaps?   The hat would match perfectly of course, but there is plenty of potential here without direct bubble wrap accompaniment.  We have even found a Bubble Wrap Bride!  Reuse and Recycle takes on new meaning; after you move your prized possessions, the remaining bubble wrap packaging can play a big part in your own personal makeover.

Bubble Wrap Bags and Camping/Sleepovers

Fashion and bubble wrap rolls are fine and dandy, you say, but how about some more practical examples of their use?   

What if after—or during—the taking care of the relocation of your valuables you find yourself pressed to locate a sleeping bag of some type for a recent camping trip or necessary sleepover that has come up?  Your moving materials have the perfect, cheap solution for you, and you also have the added benefit of looking good during your outing. Behold!

How’s that for comfort and style? The multi uses of  bubble wrap rolls  have no bounds.

Bubble Wrap Packaging’s Other Means of Protection

When you use bubble wrap, your valuables are known to be important—but your life is more so.  The reach of bubble wrap packaging goes far beyond the boxes into which it is stuffed, as the following examples show.

Take a look at how these people took care of the problem:

They can likely survive Armageddon in there, and it’s all because of bubble wrap packaging and Fielding and Chavannes. 

How about insulation and decoration inside your main home (as opposed to the safety shelter above)?  This is also covered by bubble wrap:

Nothing less than amazing.  Would this bubble wrap packaging be doing anything better if it were disposed after its time protecting precious belongings?  It is doubtful it would be. Being Green is very creative and inspiring when bubble wrap is the item to be reused.

Bubble Wrap Bags and…Art?

As shown, the use of bubble wrap packaging is boundless.  Beyond its uses in fashion, survival, and decoration rests its capabilities as an art medium.  Bubble wrap can capture the inexpressible every bit as well as it does everything else.  Look for yourself:

As you look unto it, it looks unto you also. It takes the concept of 3 D pop art to a whole new level!   When you buy bubble wrap, you have the power to create masterpieces such as this.

Buy Bubble Wrap; Embrace the Infinite Possibilities

By no means is this post an exhaustive list of what you can do with bubble wrap supplies!  If you have any stories, art or ideas about the creative uses of Bubble Wrap, please share them here or on the Manhattan Mini Storage Facebook Page!  We will be making a Top Ten List of Uses for Bubble Wrap in the upcoming months!

Now you know that whenever you buy bubble wrap packaging, you are beginning an undertaking whose grandeur is known to few.

Oh right, I forgot:  bubble wrap is also fun to pop, especially when it’s used for a calendar.