In the United Kingdom, a cosmetics retailer credited with popularizing colorful “bath bombs” and unique soaps is using 100% edible packing peanuts instead of Styrofoam for its e-commerce business.
Made from vegetable starch, an employee at Lush tells HelloGiggles the packing peanut alternative has a texture similar to cheese puffs and tastes like Pirate’s Booty snacks without the flavor dust. “We eat them regularly. It’s funny to do it for new hires,” she said. If consumers don’t love munching on them, however, they can always compost them or dissolve them in a sink under running water.
Lush’s material also uses a quarter less energy than conventional packing peanuts and takes up 7.5 more space than popcorn kernels—the original green material Lush used to make its shipments more sustainable.