Strange fact: Bubble wrap was originally meant to be a wallpaper! 

Most of you have done this when a delicate package came home, all wrapped up in a sheet of bubble wrap: Bursting those air pockets one by one even before looking the actual product! Most of you would agree that this is great fun, right? But very few of you would know that why this miraculous packaging material was invented in the first place. Quite surprisingly, it was originally meant to be a wallpaper. Yes, let us tell you all about its journey from being a failed wallpaper to an amazing packaging material.  

An invention by mistake  
Do you know that the bubble wrap sheet that you use for wrapping up your fragile items and which led to a revolution in the world of packaging supplies is actually a result of a failed invention? That invention was wallpaper. It was created in 1957 by two engineers, Alfred Fielding and his business partner, Marc Chavannes, when both were working on a plastic sheet in Fielding’s garage in New Jersey, US.  

The objective was to create a new textured wall covering. They put two pieces of plastic shower curtains through a heat-sealing machine and generated a sheet of film with trapped air bubbles. Unfortunately, it failed to sell. In order to continue developing their unusual product, which was branded Bubble Wrap, the two founded Sealed Air Corporation in 1960 and started thinking of the uses of the invented material. Finally, when they decided to use it as a packaging material next year, bubble wrap became a success.   

Actually, around the same time, IBM was looking for a way to protect its delicate computer devices during transit. They found a perfect solution in Sealed Corporations’ Bubble Wrap. It wasn’t very far from here that the idea caught on and small packaging companies embraced the new technology with the product becoming a huge hit as a packaging solution.  

What was used before bubble wrap? 
Before the invention of bubble wraps, the best solution that existed to protect an item from damage was to surround it with newspaper balls. However, that was messy. The newspaper ink often rubbed off on the product as well as on those handling it. But what was worse was that it really wasn’t of much help either as it did not offer much protection.  

Bubble wrap diversifies  
The product soon started to be made into different shapes and sizes, strengths and thicknesses to serve different industries and uses. Additionally, people were beginning to love the popping of those air-filled pockets. The loud noise they made when popped was music to ears and had therapeutic effects.  

However, it wasn’t until the US entrepreneur and philanthropist T.J. Dermot Dunphy became the CEO of Sealed Air in 1971, that the company saw its real growth trajectory. From annual sales of $5 million in his first year to $3 billion in 2000 when he left the firm, it was a huge growth in sales. He diversified the product base and brought it to use for many other industries such as the swimming pool industry, where the covers with large air pockets helped capture solar rays retaining heat so that the pool water remained warm. However, these bubbles weren’t poppable. Bubble wrap also started to be used to form some types of mailing envelopes, a thin plastic that is shrink-wrapped around food and other items, and much more. 

Environmental impact  
Unfortunately, bubble wrap has a negative environmental imprint. Most often, bubble wrap is made from low-quality plastic polymer film which cannot be recycled at home. This material is considered ecologically toxic, as it takes hundreds of years to disintegrate in landfills. Rain could wash them away into the sea which could cause significant problems for marine life. 

So, the only alternative we are left with is to use your bubble wrap sheet as much as possible before you finally decide to dispose it off. An average bubble wrap can last you as long as you don’t pop all its bubbles. Though it seems hard to resist the urge but that is the best way you can help the environment.