Thinking outside the cardboard box
by Jo-ann Hodgson in At home on 23.04.08
The arrival of spring brings big changes as animals and humans alike make the final push out of hibernation to embrace new starts. For many of us, this means moving house: but how best to manage all the cardboard that goes with it without passing the burden on to the environment?
Well, in the immediate aftermath, none of us want to entertain the thought of moving again. But if your new place has enough storage space, it’s often worth holding on to boxes for next time – if not for you, then for friends or family.
Then again, why pack them all away? Boxes can be good for under-bed storage and make great pet beds. Isn’t it often the case that our furry friends prefer a plain box in the utility room to that rather expensive plush velvet basket/throne you bought them anyway?
If you’d rather escape cardboard-city syndrome, local schools and playgroups are frequently on the lookout for boxes to fashion into spaceships and fire-engines, although the results may not be as impressive as the work of this cardboard artist. Your local supermarket may also be grateful of your cardboard contribution; some are rewarded for the amount of recycling they send back to the warehouse.
Keeping the recycling closer to home, some curb-side schemes will take boxes if broken down so they’re flat and will stack. And if they won’t come to your door, most local authorities will provide somewhere to take them.
However you decide to ease cardboard’s impact on the environment, it’s worth making the effort to keep it dry – unless you want to start up your very own ecosystem.
IMAGE by Flickr user Dominic’s pics
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