I am a prolific online shopper. As a result, my UPS man and I are on a first name basis and I see more of him than some members of my own family.

Aside from the UPS man who makes deliveries at least weekly and far more often this time of year, my garbage man and I have discussed the issue of shipping, too. The UPS man just thinks I get lots of large boxes. The garbage man just thinks that I throw away large boxes full of packing peanuts, shreddies, and other assorted fillers.

These two men, and a few friends I see regularly for breakfast at the local greasy spoon and I have been brainstorming on a better way to ship. And we think we’ve come up with the perfect packing material …

POPCORN!

So here’s the deal. You get an inexpensive air popcorn popper. Less than ten dollars at Wal-Mart and less than fifty cents at a yard sale.

Then you buy bulk popcorn seeds at your local grocery or warehouse/membership store. Pop as much as you need when you need it. No storage issues. You can even pop right into boxes that you are packing.

Print nice little cards to include in all your packages encouraging recipients to spread their popcorn in their back yards for the birds as you are making a move to be environmentally friendly! Think of how well you will be remembered by your customers this year!

Its just a small we can all do our part to have a cleaner environment. And make my garbage man a little bit happier!

Shannan Hearne is the owner of SuccessPromotions.com and the co-founder of ShoppingInTheSouth.com

shannan@successpromotions.com