For sending presents by mail instead of using brown paper to cover the box, try recycling a cardboard box that can be gotten from a grocery store or any other store (before they crush them, of course). Instead of blacking out all the writing on the box as the post office suggests, turn the box inside out.
I work at a restaurant that throws away all of their cardboard boxes. For a month or so I have been recycling the boxes for them because it annoys me that they throw them away.
Does anyone have any cool uses for boxes? Craft projects that require a lot of boxes? Or somewhere that I can donate boxes. Thanks!You don't say how big the boxes are. If they are about as big as the boxes copy paper comes in, I have decorated them and used these as "cars" for toddlers and preschoolers. Possibly a preschool or daycare center could use them.
This site has some ideas.
Having worked at restaurant, I would guess they are probably dealing with mid-sized boxes for produce, canned food and what not.
You can sell or donate cardboard boxes to the local Sheltered Workshop for the developmentally handicapped. They sell them for profit and the money is used for upkeep and to pay the people for working there.
I use boxes for drawers in places that normally don't have drawers. Cardboard boxes are great, because you can cut them to whatever height you need.
I use them for storage drawers under my bed, for drawers on my freezer shelves to keep food types together and easy to get out. I use them in the attic to organize plastic bags full of yard-sale finds that the kids haven't grown into yet.
Kids love to play in boxes, make cars, trains, mazes out of them, attach several together with open ends all facing one direction for a multi-story doll house.
A local school would probably love boxes for dioramas, storage, crafts.
Maybe you could put a note on a bulletin board about where to pick up "free boxes for moving (or whatever)".
I'm sure I've seen something about making furniture out of cardboard; the corrugated kind is really strong when set a certain way. - MC
I just made a cooler for the truck of my car using two cardboard boxes and a bunch of plastic grocery bags. Works great, doesn't fall apart like styrofoam, and didn't cost a thing! If the boxes are uniformly shaped, I could imagine giant building blocks or a storage system for seasonal clothes and decorations.
When I was a teacher we always needed boxes for one thing or another-all shapes and sizes. Maybe check with your local school and see if they could use them, or better yet, if you know any teachers ask them directly. Also, if you live near a college, maybe some of the students could use them at the end of the year to pack up their things! Good luck! - Beth
It sounds like you have a steady supply of same-size boxes. This is what some frugal women dream about! I can assure you there are people who would love to have those.
To a frugal mom, this might mean enough compatibly-sized boxes to make a neat and efficient storage system for out-of-season clothes and yard sale bargains. To a teacher, it could be the storage system she's been longing for, to keep all her seasonal decorations organized, her craft materials, her collection of creative seat-work and seasonal activities, and more. To a woman running a home business on a shoestring, this might take the place of the filing cabinets her budget won't cover. To a quilter or other home-crafter, it would be the storage system she's always dreamed of, one with enough room for everything to have a set place. To a pack-rat wanting to declutter without hiring a organization consultant, those boxes would be the system for sorting out the stuff she digs out of closets and junk drawers.
To someone just experimenting with composting, a cardboard box is a convenient way to keep all those scraps together, and as a bonus, the bin itself can decompose into fertilizer. To a teen, it could be the key to packing up stuff for college in the fall. For someone with a woodstove or a fireplace, it is first a box for kindling, and then it too becomes kindling.
Ask around, and you will surely find some takers for those boxes. - Rose Berry, thrift fanatic
I would like to congratulate the restaurant worker for not throwing away the cardboard boxes. If he/she lives in any size city, there is probably a recycle place that takes cardboard (usually cannot be mixed with other recycling). Call the mayor's office to find out. Also if there are any colleges nearby, sometimes they will have a bin on campus where you could put in the flatten pieces. - chunkychow
I have completed several jigsaw puzzles and have glued them together to frame them. What do I do with the boxes? I really don't want to discard them.
Don't recycle those inner cardboard boxes used to separate tampons in the multipack. Reuse them for organization!
Upcycle sturdy cardboard boxes to make this pretty display gift basket. This would be perfect as a thoughtful present or as a donation to an auction.
Raised beds are usually made from wood, concrete or stone. You can use something as simple as a large cardboard box however, it will last likely only last one season. This is a page about making raised beds using cardboard boxes.
A large cardboard box can be rescued in a myriad of ways. Making a dollhouse from a leftover box is a perfect way to use it again. This is a page about making cardboard box dollhouses .
Save cardboard boxes or if you shop at Costco, at check out they'll put your purchases in cardboard boxes - those boxes are handy! In our household we paint in the boxes to create a mess free painting environment. :)
Now that it is summer vacation, my toddler (3 years old) enjoys box building blocks made with packages we receive from online shopping. As more orders come home, he will have more boxes to play with.
