"Entrepreneurs begin the venture creation process with a body of knowledge, but their knowledge grows along the way and shapes their course of action. Ann DeLaVergne started with a very small idea—one the size of an envelope. While looking at the stack of used envelopes in her recycling bin, it occurred to her that a lot of small envelopes could have a big impact.

Back of the Envelope Math
Through further investigation, Ann learned that as of the year 2000, at least 81 billion return envelopes were produced and sent through the United States Postal Service each year. This is tough on the environment— using 800 thousand metric tons of wood, generating 450 thousand metric tons of greenhouse gases, and requiring more than 71 trillion BTUs of energy to process and transport. It's tough on the bottom line too, as return envelopes represent between 15% and 45% of direct mailing costs fora business.

Bulk Post
An organic farmer with a philosophy of reuse, Ann already saved large envelopes to send out again herself. But what if she could apply that thinking to 81 billion return envelopes? With that idea, Ann founded EcoEnvelopes, a firm built on the simple goal of using one envelope instead of two for round-trip business mail transactions."