Maybe the ancient Babylonians were on the right track. They used environmentally-friendly materials for their envelopes. Before there was a “green” movement, before there was even a hint of global warming... before they knew there was a globe... envelopes were baked clay wrappers that had to be smashed to smithereens to reveal the correspondence inside. Inconvenient? Yes. Heavy? Definitely. But secure and effective. Fast forward to scrolls made of skins, leaves or papyrus. Their enclosures were rolls of thin wood... perhaps the first hint of the paper envelopes to follow sometime in the 10th century.

By the 15th century, “posts” or the seeds of our of current postal system, were considered signs of progress, and every up-and-coming kingdom had one. They were run by the royals, and operated as a monopoly. As the 16th century approached, letters were enclosed in pieces of folded paper and sealed with wax. Everyone had to create their own “envelope” as there was no standard pattern. History speculates that the first standard envelopes were developed by a paper vendor who saw an opening in the market and jumped at the chance.

It was King Charles I of Britain who established the first state postal system for mail delivery in England and Scotland, but it was in France that the first private, non-governmental system was attempted. It was in the early 1600’s and King Louis XIV granted a private citizen the right to place collection boxes on street corners to collect letters that were in pre-stamped envelopes that he sold around town. He then would deliver them. These envelopes were more like wrappers and acted as their own receipts. Unfortunately for the enterprising businessman, there were those who were afraid of the plan succeeding, so they filled his collection boxes with vermin and trash. His clientele stopped using his service, and a government-sponsored service prevailed.

The first use of rectangular, folded paper enclosures is traced to French perfumers and Japanese chemists who used the envelopes not for mailing letters, but to hold powders. Two hundred years would pass before the British granted a patent for the first envelope-making machine. Their products were flat, diamond-shaped sheets, pre-cut before being fed into a creasing machine and prepped for folding into a rectangular pocket. The overlapping flaps were closed with paste and the final securing of the envelope was left up to the user, most preferring wax. It was at the dawn of the 1900’s when pre-gummed envelopes made their way onto the scene.

Which brings us to today. We are faced with the specter of deforestation, carbon emissions and the greenhouse effect. Fortunately, there are ways to be environmentally friendly and still serve our customers’ needs for convenient, efficient and secure envelopes.

Action Envelope has undertaken an eco-friendly initiative. We now purchase enough wind power to offset 100% of our electrical consumption and we are recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a Green Power Partner for our efforts. ActionEnvelope is in the process of becoming Forest Stewart Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) certified. This means that we’re protecting our forests by supporting strict stewardship of our natural resources. Our Recycle Shop is a great resource for our customers to find what they need in an environmentally friendly way. There are ways to be eco-friendly without having to take a hammer and smash your envelope to oblivion. Action Envelope is proud to take the lead in this very important issue.

Labels: action, envelope, history