Recyling cardboard boxes

17 years ago

As a garden center manager I see lots of cardboard going into the dumpster filling our local landfill. As a store we already offer free boxes to our customers for storage and moving purposes but I got to thinking yesterday what about all those local gardeners that could use this for a multitude of purposes, mulching, vermiculture, composting, and more. I want to encourage all fellow gardeners where ever you are to contact a store near you and encourage them to provide and promote this type of service. Just think of the possibilities. Less waste, more worms, less water use, less soil compaction, healthier soil, less weed spraying or pulling:), and the list goes on I am sure.

Thank you for considering these thoughts.

Try to make a difference one person at a time.

Happy Growing David

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Comments (6)

ntbio
17 years ago
A very good idea to recycle the paper boad boxes for other paper board boxes but they should not be used in organic farming...firstly , they are not an allowed input. But, they SHOULD be recycled and your store should seperate the boxes, crush and stack them (they make machines that do this ) and call a recycler to come get them for which they will pay you.
Kimmsr
17 years ago
Based on what little I have looked at compost made with cardboard boxes as part of the ingrediants is approved by OMRI for use on certified organic farms so there should be no reason they could not be used on organic gardens.
If you have a market for recycled paper products then they definitely should be used that way, but there is so little market for recycled paper products that there needs to be a way to utilize them.
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Dibbit
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While certified farms/growers need to be careful about their inputs, the rest of us can compromise slightly if we so desire. I would rather use cardboard or newspaper under mulch to kill weeds and grass in a new bed (it won't kill off the REALLY persistant perennials; horse nettle, greenbriar, curly dock, wild onion, etc. have to be dug, but the grasses and the others are dead), than to till or strain my back clearing off the sod (and lose the nutrients from the breakdown), or use vinegar to kill the greens (which won't work unless the temperature is over 60F, another 2-3 months from now) - it's a lot faster to mulch over cardboard. I'll take all the cardboard boxes I can get, as I am presently in a planting-trees-and-shrubs-mode, so am using lots of mulch. I wish I lived near David's greenhouse business - I would take lots of boxes.
hitexplanter
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for the replies and I would add common sense says to be careful on box and paper selection as not all companies making these product using soy based inks so some of the colors may be a problem in some situations and if used to excess. The company I work for is not large enough to afford a machine to recycle and I am just trying to make better use of this usable (in my opinion)product instead of seeing it go to landfills that may or may not biogas. There has got to be local solutions to these kinds of things that benefits those locally that will ultimately help all of us globally by thinking more responsibly in our every day activity at work and play. Nuff said thanks
Happy Growing David
Dibbit
17 years ago
I have to agree that the labels, etc. do need to be checked. I pull off tape, etc., to throw away. I got a box from my brother's - new computer or some such - with writing all over it. I didn't think too much about it, and used it to extend a bed I was making for shrubs. I decided to add in bearded iris, and dug out the Mantis tiller. It turns out the printing was on a thin film of plastic, so I then got to pick up small bits of plastic for the next hour or so! Now, I check to be sure printing is on the cardoard and not more plastic coating.
organicburro
17 years ago
I use them on my paths between my raised beds, with stone on top, for weed suppression.

Recyling cardboard boxes

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ntbio

Kimmsr

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