Being right in the middle of a rather big move myself at the moment, a blog post at The Budget Ecoist about recycling moving boxes struck a chord with me. They have 6 six great ideas about how to recycle moving boxes.

1. Take a box, leave a box: Moving companies such as U-Haul now offer drop locations at stores,
allowing customers to drop-off their reusable moving boxes for other
customers to use, or pick up a previously donated box for their own
move. This is a way for customers to help one another while promoting
reuse of the product, which is always preferable to recycling. With
every reuse of a box, a new one is prevented from entering the cycle.

2. Go local with Freecycle and Craigslist: If you are unable to score free boxes at your moving company, try Freecycle or Craigslist.
We often see our local peeps posting offers to give away their
gently-used moving boxes. If you’re not a member of Freecycle, read this postrecycle
all of your unwanted treasures! Need a box? Post a wanted ad. Want to
recycle your boxes? Post an offer ad. It’s that easy.

3. The U-Haul Box Exchange: If you can’t score boxes for free, your next best bet is to go to U-Haul’s messageboard, The U-Haul Box Exchange, where you can trade, sell or buy reusable boxes and moving supplies from other like-minded movers.

4. Return for money: So you were unable to score boxes for
free, and unable to buy them used. OK. So maybe you’re going to have to
purchase them after all. If that’s the case, be sure you purchase from
a company that offers a buyback guarantee. At U-Haul, customers who
provide an original receipt can recoup some money, while preventing
waste.

5. Kids’ castles: And now the fun comes…let’s face it,
some of the boxes just don’t make it through the move. For those boxes
that are mildly damaged and just can’t make it through another packing
cycle, might we suggest having a bit of fun? For anyone who’s ever seen
a toddler have at the box their gift came in (while ignoring the $30
purchase!), you know how imaginative children can be with boxes. Get
the kids outside, hand the boxes over, and see what they come up with!
Or go easy and check out these instructions on how to create the castle of boxes of your dreams!

6. Recycle: You’ve reused other’s boxes (for free!),
you’ve passed them along as well. You gave the damaged ones to kids to
use to their delight. Finally…these boxes are just plain worn-out!
The last refuge of the broken-down, beat up moving box: the recycling
bin.

Moving Boxes: Recycle This [The Budget Ecoist]

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An old tractor tyre makes a fantastic sandpit for the younger set, and is a super easy recycling project. Old tractor tyres are easier to come by than you may think. I got hold of this one by putting a “Wanted” ad on Freecycle and a local smallholder was happy to part with it, I just had to pick it up. For this you need two strong people and a roof-rack on your car, or a trailer. The hardest part of this project is definitely getting the large tyre home, but once you’ve got that out of the way, it’s plain sailing.

Step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Acquire an old tractor tyre. I recommend giving Freecycle a try, or if you know a farmer, ask him.

Step 2: Scrub the tyre well with a scrubbing brush and some soapy water.

Step 3: Dig out a section of lawn to fit the tyre into. Aim for getting about 1/2 of the width of the tyre into the ground.

Step 4: Once the tyre is in place, dig out the middle some more, go about a foot and a half down to make room for the sand.

Step 5: Fill with sand. You can buy sand specifically for sandpits from garden centres.

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Oliver Heath is the UK’s favourite celebrity interior decorator, I say he’s the favourite because he’s one of the few who really takes green issues seriously, so he’s my favourite anyway. Here’s his latest effort for the environment, in conjunction with Recycle now.

Here are some great recycled products that you could buy to close that recycling loop.

Kitchen & Home:

Recycled aluminium foil - save loads of energy by using recycled aluminium foil.

Recycled glass wine glasses - perfect for drinking organic and Fairtrade wines with a clear conscience. Good looking too!

The ultra-useful Cycloc bicycle storage solution - this little recycled plastic gizmo simply hangs your bicycle on the wall, freeing up floor space in your hall, or shed, or garage. Wherever.

Fashion:

Unisex recycled London Fire Brigade hose belt - you’ll have a belt that has saved lives.

Personal:

Recycline toothbrush - not as gross as it sounds. Not actually a recycled toothbrush, but rather a toothbrush made of environmentally sound materials, and easy to recycle.

Recycline Razor - an easy to recycle re-usable razor.

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