Companies have used packing materials to protect items during shipment for many years. Believe it or not, early packing materials included actual peanuts. More recently in the ’60s, packing peanuts were made from polystyrene. Polystyrene is petroleum based, and the color of the peanut — pink, green or white — determines what materials they contain. These materials do not break down naturally, so we can reuse them many times.

This seemed to be a great idea because these companies were the only ones who had access to them. Then people would reuse them to send their own personal items. That was until the 1990s, when they became available for household purchase. This became an ecological problem, because people would throw them out and they would end up in a landfill.

Developers created a more environmentally friendly version, the starch-based packing peanut. These peanuts are made out of cellulose that comes from plants, one of the most abundant organic polymers on Earth. It is mostly used to produce paper products. These natural peanuts are nontoxic (although you won’t want to eat them). And they are biodegradable. If you put them in water, they will break down. You can easily make them at home with the recipe below.

Ingredients, materials: Cornstarch, water, paper cups and a spoon.

Instructions: Add equal parts cornstarch and water in a paper cup. Stir with a spoon until it turns into a paste. Have a grown-up microwave the mixture on high for 15-30 seconds. The water molecules will expand within the cornstarch and make the walls puffy. To dissolve, pour hot water over top and watch it disintegrate.

Biodegradable peanuts are not the final answer to environmentally friendly packaging. Companies are continuing to come up with even better solutions to keep packages safe. Recyclable plastic air pockets, shredded paper and other items may someday make the packing peanut a thing of the past.

First Published: September 3, 2015, 4:00 a.m.