What do two 40-watt light bulbs, two coffee mugs, and a brick have in common? They were the contents of a package I received the other day. A package that was, rather unceremoniously, dropped over my front gate by the delivery driver. (The guy in the brown truck. You know who you are!) What kept the contents from being two smashed light bulbs and two shattered mugs were hundreds of little paper board pyramids called ExpandOS, from Denver-based Vertex IPS. Made from SFI-certified paper, ExpandOS are a great alternative to Styrofoam packing peanuts. The product is supplied in flat, die-cut, accordion-folded sheets which are fed into an ExpandOS machine that forms them into pyramids and dumps them into the shipping container of your choosing. As the packing flows around the product to be shipped, the squiggly edges of the pyramids interlock to create a barrier against shifting and a cushion against breakage. And, having served their purpose, used ExpandOs can either be reused to ship other items, or can be recycled in the paper waste stream. The ExpandOS in my carton were emblazoned with the “recycle” logo (didn’t know if that was supposed to mean “this is recycled” or “you can recycle this,” hmmm) and the SFI Certified Fiber Sourcing logo, but the product can be printed to order. More information is available here.