Reuse or Recycle Unwanted Boxes
Internet shopping has become more and more popular and people are still send gifts to their friends and families. This means that we gain a collection of cardboard boxes especially during this time of year. There are so many ways to prevent all those boxes from simply ending up in the garbage as so many do.
Cardboard boxes are versatile and can be used in so many different ways. Not only is using these boxes in other applications help be more eco-friendly, but it’s also more friendly on your pocket. Since you got the boxes for free, it only requires your time and possibly some inexpensive tools. Let’s get into some great ways cardboard can be reused.
Arts & Crafts
A really great way to get extra use out of those cardboard boxes is to use them in arts and crafts projects. There are a countless number of projects that cardboard can be used in that make it a perfect fit. Just to name a few of the craft projects that I can think of:
- Puppet Theatre: Martha Stewart goes through making an entire playhouse based heavily around the use of a cardboard box. This is a great idea to not only get your kids doing crafts but also provide them with a toy that can be lots of fun.
- Toys: There are a variety of toys that can be made using mostly cardboard including the theatre mentioned above. That’s not the only toy that can be made though. Every child loves to have their own little home and this can be the perfect way use those bigger boxes. Smaller boxes can be cut into blocks that you kids can decorate with numbers or letters.
- Supply Holder: Cardboard pieces can be formed together and decorated to make simple supply holders either for yourself or your kids.
Pets
Pet stores make a huge amount of money off of supplies for our pets that can often be made for a fraction of the cost. Many varieties of pet beds can be made by cutting a box for an opening and put blankets in there to give them a space they will love. My cat loves the pet home we made for her and she has uses it also as her scratching pad.
Storage
Using cardboard boxes for storage are one of the easiest ways to organize your stuff and are much more cost effective (well free) and eco-friendly than expensive plastic bins. To make the boxes easier to carry, you can simply cut holes in two sides of the box.
Moving
Moving boxes can be a huge expense that can so unnecessary. The best way to really prepare for a move is to try saving boxes whenever you receive a package. Sometimes it can be difficult to time a move or it’s too difficult to save enough boxes. You can always ask friends or go onto craigslist to find people with unwanted boxes.
When all else fails…
Send those unused boxes to recycling. Let’s not continue to clog our landfills with something that can easily be recycled into a useful product.
Please share ways you use unwanted boxes laying around your house.
Comments
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December 14th, 2009Trackback from : Search Results for: “cat worms”
Compost insulation down the sides and back and over the top of the bin, worms love corrugated card, over the car windscreen to prevent frost. When our boxes finally are no good round Michael’s Original Luffa farm, we mix them up with bits from the luffa workshop, the hen house and give to the worms who repay handsomely with the starter soil for our baby luffa plants to help grow our biodegradable washing up pads….
Ben: All really great ideas, Thanks.
In regards to arts and crafts, you missed the refrigerator-box space shuttle, which I think should be experienced by everyone at least once, although to be honest it probably isn’t all that green
This is one of the reasons I like shopping at BJs, as they recycle a lot of their boxes and allow members to use them to bring goods home. They also don’t use bags, which I am sure is more motivated by cost than anything else, but is still good for the environment.
I like to find some of the bigger boxes, use them to carry my food home, then use them to store things around the house.
Exactly! Growing up, I always remembered transforming huge cardboard boxes into forts or little hideouts in our living room! Great, cheap, recyclable fun!
Good simple tips. Today’s consumers use up a ton of materials on packaging. There is no reason for all those cardboard boxes to end up in landfills. Recycling is one of the easiest steps we can all take to making the world a greener place.
Are all cardboard boxes the same as far as being able to recycle them? Can you just take then to any recycling station and they are all acceptable?? The only reason I ask is that i just found out that all plastic isnt the same/cant be recycled together…