Christmas Morning Musing.....Amazon corrugated boxes.

[OAITW r.2.0]

Why can't Amazon offer to take back perfectly good corrugated boxing and reuse on future deliveries? We must have 30-40 boxes that could be returned. Give the customer a small break on reusing used boxes and keep them out of the landfills. Corrugated paper companies won't like the idea, but if Amazon really wants to go green, they should make it easier to return boxes for reuse.

[USALiberal]

1. Maybe shipping back cost more than new box? Nt

[marybourg]

2. Mine are picked up for recycling.

[CTyankee]

3. I have one that my shipped books came in several months ago! I love it.

We use it for holding our recycled items each week. It holds not only paper things but recycling plastic bottles and plastic bags. Or reused items, such as paper bags, that have worn out. It holds newspapers and plastic wrap.

[Earthshine2]

4. I need them for all my Amazon returns.

I return a lot of their stuff.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. 70% Of All Cardboard Is Recycled

Could/should that be higher? Yes.
Sorters recover cardboard under 3 standards.
The highest is recycled back into cardboard.
The middle is recycled into ordinary paper products like printer sheet, light cardboard (think the cover over the tub of guacamole), mailers, and posterboard.
The lowest goes with recycled paper for stuff like paper towels & toilet paper. On this category, the amount of recycle into new products aligns with quality. Charmin, for instance, uses far less recycle than the cheese roll size TP in a gas station bathroom.
As the fibers break down into smaller & smaller pieces during reprocessing, the strength & absorption of the finished paper declines. So, there's a practical lower limit to reuse. Of course, recycling toilet paper is not much of an option, so the lowest grade of recycle goes there.
The waste company a few miles from my house has a superb sorting/recycling center. Very impressive. In fact, on the land filled materials, they recover 90% of methane generated. They use a good portion of it generating their own electricity, and another big slice running their trucks off methane.
Could we be better at reusing cardboard? Definitely yes. Without massive capital investment, (awareness drives, cardboard bins to each residence, etc.) we could get to 90% in 2 years or less.

[TheBlackAdder]

6. Build a Life-Sized replica of Megas XLR

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/revision/latest?cb=20150517145711

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[House of Roberts]

7. I have cats.

Before I can recycle cardboard boxes, they have to exercise on or about them, particularly with their claws. This goes for Chewy boxes too.

[AmericanCanuck]

8. Put them in the recycling bin

It will cost Amazon more to ship them back, sort them and reuse them.

[Hekate]

9. I often save them to use for storage or for mailing out things myself....

Good boxes are good boxes. You can also flatten them for recycling.

Happy Holidays, OAITW.

[Totally Tunsie]

10. You might want to try Amazon's wonderful solution...

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/90287/how-use-old-amazon-boxes-make-free-shipments-goodwill

Amazon Lets You Use Your Old Boxes to Ship Free Charitable Donations

Amazon offers customers an ingenious way to reuse their boxes while giving back to the community at the same time.

Through Amazon’s Give Back Box platform, an old box can be used to ship donations to charitable organizations for free. To take advantage of the program simply empty a used Amazon box, refill it with clothing, shoes, appliances, or any other items you wish to donate, and slap a customized shipping label on the front. Donors can print out a sticker addressed to one of Amazon's nearby partner organizations by entering their zip code at GiveBackBox.com. From there, UPS or the United States Postal Service will take care of the rest—free of charge.

https://givebackbox.com/works

It is much easier than you think to make a difference
Give Back Box® provides vendor services to retailers and charities, giving each and every cardboard box a second life to help people in need. So it is also a 'green' solution! Reuse your online shipping boxes in which you received your purchases, or any other cardboard box you may have, to donate your unwanted household items: such as gently used clothing, shoes etc., to make a major difference in the life of another person.

Free to the user, and solves the dilemma of ridding oneself of unwanted clothing and household items. There's a double bonus here...items get a second use, and boxes disappear!

Come to think of it, I'm going to make this an OP.

[Midnight Writer]

11. I flatten them, stack them in the garage, and when I get a pile, take them to be recycled.