SHIPPING ENVELOPES SAVE A COMPUTER

Running off to an event one day, I realized I didn’t have a bag cushy enough to carry my laptop. I’d always meant to purchase a bag or sleeve to protect my investment, but had too little money left after shelling out the dough for the computer itself to get a fancy laptop case (oh, the irony!).

As I frantically scanned my room, I saw an overnight shipping company’s bubble envelope peeking out from behind one of my cabinets and grabbed that, thinking it would be a “good-enough” solution for the time-being. It fit my laptop perfectly and cushioned it without being too bulky. Plus it had the added bonus of making my laptop look like just a bunch of boring documents to would-be thieves.

When I arrived at the event, I pulled out my laptop in its new makeshift bag and was a bit embarrassed. Sure, the envelope was great functionally, but the colorful logo looked pretty ghetto compared to everyone else’s expensive-looking padded sleeves.

To my amazement, people actually started coming up to me and asking me how I came up with the idea and remarking on how clever it was. They got such a kick out of the quirky bag that I was tempted to say that I had actually gotten the envelope with the intention to use it as a laptop bag all along—but I didn’t, which actually worked out well for me as an eco-design writer, since technically, I reused the envelope.

By the end of the day, I was proud of my accidental discovery, which worked out so well that I decided I didn’t need to purchase a laptop sleeve.

And I’ve been using that envelope ever since. Now that I’ve seen the reaction it gets, I wouldn’t even trade it for one of those pricey laptop bags!