May 30th I attended the  Southern Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce after-hours Meet & Greet, hosted by Tracy Miller at her Manitou Springs gallery on Ruxton Avenue. Awesome gallery, by the way. Patrice, a business associate from the chamber, asked about shipping a Star Trek Next Generation collection from Maryland to Colorado — perfect timing with the release of the new Star Trek movie. Her son will be the recipient of this collection of figures, a transporter room (pictured) and other sets, and a Star Trek telephone that his uncle used in his office for a few years. Patrice wanted to know if it would “cost a fortune” to ship the three or four boxes of collectibles.

The answer is “no.” Simply make sure all the items are securely and professionally packed and that you have an accurate value for the collection and each box being shipped. Unless the collection absolutely needs to reach its destination quickly — or has a high dollar value — ground shipping with UPS or FedEx is the most cost effective. For international shipments, DHL fits that bill. If the collection is very large — six or more large boxes, shipping on a pallet by LTL truck may be the best.

For all you Trekkies, new and “old,” and for anyone with an awesome collection like this, it’s good to know the most cost-effective way to ship these treasures. Choose the best option for your wallet. That leaves some extra money to see the new film a few more times!

Star Trek Next Generation Collection

Everyone’s heard about the devastating tornadoes ravaging parts of Oklahoma.  It seems to be one weather disaster after another on the daily news, with no relief in sight. However, there is light in this time of darkness — a home in the path of destruction in Oklahoma survived amid mass wreckage because of its durable construction. See the full story covered by our local KRDO 13 News station here. This particular house was built with Tegrant Protexic ICFs (insulated concrete form), which is highly wind and fire resistant.  The hollow blocks of Styrofoam are supported by rebar and filled with concrete.  Tegrant uses recycled Styrofoam to make its products.

Something unique about Pak Mail is that, in addition to packing and shipping, we also accept clean Styrofoam for recycling! We bag the Styrofoam pieces that people bring in and take them around the corner from the store to Tegrant. Instead of sending this non-biodegradable material to the landfill, it’s re-manufactured into concrete forms. The Oklahoma home constructed with this building product withstood one of the most devastating tornadoes in recent memory. It’s just one way Pak Mail helps out not only our local community, but the national community as well. We’re humbled to know that a local business we donate to has made an impact in a time of grief. Many Coloradans are starting to look into building homes with the Tegrant form because of its fire-resistant and insulating properties.

Did you receive a shipment of fragile items protected with Styrofoam? Not sure what to do with this packing material? Bring it to Pak Mail! If we can’t re-use it in our packaging, we’ll recycle it with Tegrant and make it count for something!