What to do with all these boxes?

[Chewwy]

In our backwater the county at one time had recycle trailers parked around different areas, It was great being able to recycle instead of fill up the landfill but alas the a-holes that live here used the trailers for garbage disposal and dumped everything into them. The trailers are now all gone and there is no recycling to be found that is not at least 50 miles away.

Those same a—holes are likely now just dumping their stuff in the woods.

 

[tradosaurus]

The other day, I took advantage of the rainy weather to haul five bucket loads of cardboard boxes down to the garden to turn into ash.
It seems like every other day another cardboard box shows up. My mother claims to be breaking them down to recycle them...however I simply found the broken down ones on the pile. After my burning session, there's actually a concrete floor in that side of the garage, I knew it was down there somewhere.

As I was watching the flames, I was thinking "There has to be a better use of these things than just burning them."

A few things to add: We don't have enough stuff to consider boxing it all up. The rate they come in is steady, but defiantly increases during the holidays. The pile I burned was likely a year backlog. Perhaps maybe shredding? There's a couple new raised beds that could use some material.

All suggestions appreciated.

Offer free boxes on Craigslist or Facebook for those that are getting ready to move.

 

[ning]

I go to the "dump" (actually transfer station, dump is somewhere else these days) and there's a big recycling center there.
80% of my stuff I don't pay to dump because it's either free (paper, cardboard, cans, some glass & plastic bottles, scrap metal) or they pay me for it (aluminum cans, other glass & plastic bottles), and all the food scraps go to the chickens, so every 4-5 months I go to the dump and they give me a bit of money for the effort, usually get a few bucks more than the fuel cost. I figure all the time I save not taking trash cans to the county road and cleaning up bear messes out there adds up to more than the time I spend going to the dump, too, so all around a win.

 

[thepumpguysc]

I have a big trash can, 55 gallon with a trash bag in it..
All cardboard goes in it..
When it’s full, I carry the bag to the burn pit and empty the contents.. A light dusting of gasoline and WHOOSH, up she goes.. burns just long enough to polish off a cold beverage..
Head back to the porch, put the bag back it the can and start all over again..

 

[grsthegreat]

Mine get flattened and go to local dump location that has a bin for cardboard. Recycled

 

[ning]

We often use it to line the walkways between garden beds; put cardboard down, cover with wood chips = no weeds...
Nice thing about using it for weedblock is that it lasts about as long as that crap they sell at the nursery, but instead of being a mess a few years late when the weeds finally get through it, it's just gone, nothing to try to tear out.
I still have weedblock crap poking up all over the yard where my wife put it in ages ago, it never goes away but definitely stops doing its job (mostly stuff growing on top of it, yes, or between layers or where it's no longer overlapping - but the point is that the stuff is only mostly underground, in the way of a shovel, you've got weeds despite it, and it's a pain to try to remove).

 

[MossRoad]

We have kids that seem to move every year or two. So we tend to flatten any usable boxes of good sizes and save them in the garage for the inevitable.

Smaller ones get flattened and go into the recycle bin.

 

[D&D]

I have a big trash can, 55 gallon with a trash bag in it..
All cardboard goes in it..
When it’s full, I carry the bag to the burn pit and empty the contents.. A light dusting of gasoline and WHOOSH, up she goes.. burns just long enough to polish off a cold beverage..
Head back to the porch, put the bag back it the can and start all over again..

I would of that you had more diesel than gasoline as a byproduct of your job.

 

[thepumpguysc]

Lol..
The diesel that makes it here, which isn’t much, goes in my parts washer..
It seems to work well with the regular solvent..

 

[masscity]

California 1984 I ran into a guy at a bar that brought cardboard boxes and wave solder dross to recycle centers and made $250 a week with two days work. The rest of the time he sat in the bar.