15 Ways to Re-purpose or Recycle Cardboard Boxes

Now that you’ve picked up a few Loop loads, maybe you’re starting to notice that the cardboard is piling up… that’s great news! Cardboard is incredibly versatile, and it’s typically made from recycled paper products, meaning your use of recycled cardboard completes an environmental loop (we love loops!).

Living on a homestead or farm means that there are always things going on that you could use cardboard for. Save your plain cardboard boxes that aren’t heavily printed, aren’t waxed or covered with a shiny finish, and are clean-ish. We know some of your boxes may have leaks from your produce, depending on what you’re using it for, that could be fine! Also, remove all tape and stickers.

Here are some of our, and our Looper-contributed, ideas:

In the garden

Line the bottom of raised beds

If you’re building new raised beds, the last thing you want is weeds and grass growing up into your freshly planted flowers or veggies! Lining the bottom of the raised beds smothers these unwanted plants and retains water, helping your watering sessions last a little longer. After a few months, the cardboard breaks down, so you’ll now have access to all the great nutrients in the soil below the box, and worms can come and go freely into your raised bed.

Use it for starting seeds

If you’ve ever tried starting seeds in toilet paper tubes, hopefully, your luck was better than ours and your tubes didn’t break down into a mess! Instead of this approach, you could line some small boxes with the clear plastic bags you get in your Loop produce boxes (or thick layers of newspaper if you don’t like using plastic) and plant your babies in there!

Another great idea is to still use common plastic starter cell trays, but place a piece of cardboard underneath it to retain moisture in the cells.

Create weed-free walkways and cleanly mulched areas

Do you have a bunch of grass and weeds growing in your walkways around the garden? If you put a thick layer of cardboard down over where you want a nice walkway to be, then hold it down with rocks and get it wet, it’ll suppress the weeds and make your garden look a little neater. You could even place tree mulch or little pebbles over top for a nice finish.

The same concept applies to creating nicely landscaped mulched areas on your property – if you have large evergreens that have ‘dead’ zones underneath them, you can use a long garden hose to map out the edges (landscape designers suggest lots of large curves to draw the eye) and then lay down cardboard to smother any weeds and cover with lovely-smelling tree mulch.

Plant trees that will last

Planting trees in some areas of Canada can be challenging – weather fluctuations, wind, drought, sun, and insects can all affect the outcome of your newly planted trees. One of our Loopers sent us their favorite way to plant trees in their orchard, but this applies to any type of tree: plant your baby tree in the most suitable spot, then grab a banana box lid that has the open center and flip it upside-down over the tree and partially fill it with mulch. This keeps the tree warm and protected from the elements, and retains lots of moisture when you water. It’ll break down over the course of the year so that you’ll have a lovely, mulched tree next Spring.

Extend your season with box cloches

Some of your moderately hardy veggies and flowers might benefit from some extra protection from the elements so you can get a few more harvests from them before the snow flies.

Use a box that’s slightly larger than your plant, and open both flap ends, splaying the ends away from the plant at the bottom and weighing them down with rocks. Open the top flaps in the morning to get warm sun all day, and then if it gets a bit frosty at night, close the top flaps!

Support your compost production

We all need our fiber, and so does your compost pile! If you’re only throwing your unusable produce and kitchen scraps into your compost pile, it’ll liquefy and be pretty smelly. That’s why it’s recommended to support your green materials (nitrogen) with fibrous, absorbent, and dry brown materials (carbon) like the fall leaves you raked up, grass clippings, animal bedding straw, paper, pine needles, sawdust, and… cardboard!

Elsewhere

Store sharp tools

Wrap your sharp garden and workshop tools in folded cardboard to keep them safe and sharp.

Keep your chicken coop clean

Place flattened cardboard on the floor of your coop for easy cleanup. Cardboard absorbs the poop and, with a layer of shavings on top, keeps the coop floor clean and smelling fresh.

Use as a DIY sawhorse for painting projects

For easy setup and to keep your newly painted items from rubbing off, try using cardboard boxes! Set up some strong boxes and test them to make sure they’ll hold the weight of your project before you start. Then, let the creative juices flow!

Get your backyard campfire off to a good start

Obviously, cardboard burns pretty well, so you can save up a little pile to use with some kindling as firestarter.

Try some crafts or science projects with the kids

We found a really cool solar oven project to try with your kids: tape a box closed top and bottom, then cut it in half horizontally so it opens like a pizza box. Create supports for the sides so the top stays open, then wrap the entire inside with aluminum foil.

Find all your broken crayons and break them up more into little pieces and put them into doubled-up muffin liners so they’re half full. Put them into the box, then cover them with a large clear glass bowl. Place the box in a sunny spot so the foil reflects lots of light and heat into the bowl, and hopefully, in a few hours, you’ll have a melted crayon. Let these cool completely and peel out of the muffin liners for brand-new, multi-colored crayons!

Of course, if you get lots of clean boxes you can also build big cardboard castles the kiddos can paint. And you can get creative and try making workshops, kitchens, cars, lemonade stands, and furniture! Google any of these projects for some inspiration.

If you still have leftover boxes, flatten them so they don’t take up too much space. You can see if friends need some, you’d be surprised how many people are moving or need them for gardens! Then, if you get waste removal service to your home, you can place them with the recycling. Or you can take them to your local recycling depot.

For more ideas on how to use other packaging you receive in Loop, check out this blog post on Handling Packaging; Re-use & DIY

What are some creative ways you’ve used cardboard? Share them with us in the comments or if you have pictures, you can email us at info@loopresource.ca or share them on social media!

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