Reuseable Shipping Boxes

[oneh2obabe]

Received this e-mail from Lee Valley yesterday. If you have an account with them it might be worthwhile to take any boxes from online orders from various companies and get the credit for future purchases.

Dear Customer,

During this pandemic, many of us have rediscovered taking long walks through our own neighborhoods. While moving about on foot, there’s plenty of time to notice the things you’d normally drive right past without seeing. Garbage day is particularly revealing – it’s hard not to notice which of your neighbors buys what, or from whom.

For me, what really sticks out is the number of clean boxes that have only been used once. A large number of them have a swoopy arrow sort of logo that just seems to shout “give this box another trip.” While recycling is great, reusing before recycling is even better!

So, for the rest of the summer, we’ll give you a 50 cent per box credit against purchase for each clean and carefully broken-down reusable shipping box you bring to one of our open stores. If you happen to have a Lee Valley box, we’ll take those too!

You’ll be doing a good thing for the environment, getting some direct financial benefit, supporting a local business, and who knows…maybe the swoopy arrow company will take note and find a creative way to reuse their own packaging.

Cheers,


Robin C. Lee

[Bsuds]

I have noticed recently that the "Swoopy Box' people are using more large padded envelopes for shipping.

About time as the boxes were usually 10 times bigger than needed.

[oneh2obabe]

Good thing they are using the bubble envelopes. One of the orders I received came in a 24" square carton and had more air filled filler than product. Walmart isn't much better - ordered 2 9.2kg bags of cat kibble. Box was 30" tall and the 2 bags were laid flat on top of each other at the bottom of the box - took up a whole 12" give or take an inch.

[Bsuds]

Good thing they are using the bubble envelopes. One of the orders I received came in a 24" square carton and had more air filled filler than product. Walmart isn't much better - ordered 2 9.2kg bags of cat kibble. Box was 30" tall and the 2 bags were laid flat on top of each other at the bottom of the box - took up a whole 12" give or take an inch.

But you have a fun box for the Kitty's to play in.

[oneh2obabe]

Nope, they don't play in the boxes - they shred them.

[Catsumi]

Haha. I put in a fairly substantial order with A……n. a couple of weeks ago. As per usual they didn’t put whole order in one or two boxes but shipped part 1 first, and separately. Box 2 and 3 arrived later.

Part 1. Pick up box.

A large box. Cut it open to find…..

..you guessed it….

One, teeny bottle of nail polish.

[GordonH]

A lot of companies use reusable shipping boxes like the following (from main warehouse to the stores).

[BigBadBen]

That's a pretty cool initiative that Lee Valley has taken up. Thanks for sharing!

I understand $.50 per box towards purchase?

They are so right. So much of my recycling is taken up by a broken down, but otherwise pristine cardboard box.

If we could reuse before we recycle ...

[oneh2obabe]

^^^From Lee Valley's web site re return of reusable shipping cartons.

Even the Best Ideas need a little Boiler Plate

Boxes must be in good condition. While we understand they may have been on a trip or two already, we still need enough life for the box to go on another trip.
We will apply the credit against an in-store purchase. Credit is not transferable and cannot be applied to a future purchase or gift card.
Some supplier agreements prevent us from including them in any programs that affect the net price you pay for their products. Regretfully – we cannot apply this discount to the following products lines: Festool, SawStop, Dremel, Foredom, Tormek, Benchcraft, Lake Erie Toolworks, Gramercy, Bad Axe, Grex, Leigh Jigs and Rikon. The good news is – we have lots of other great products you CAN apply the discount to!
Our intent here is to encourage the re-use or re-purposing of boxes at the consumer level, and not the canvassing of entire neighborhoods to deliver truckloads of empty boxes in the hopes of outfitting an entire shop at no cost. We think about 20 boxes per visit per person is fair, and we’re sure we can store and use that many boxes!
Please slit packing tape carefully so that you can fold the boxes flat. Be sure to peel off any address label with personal information (pro tip – a hair dryer or heat gun will soften adhesive). We’ll promise to check for anything you miss before we re-use the box.

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/reuse-y ... able-boxes

[Babba_not_Gump]

Only slightly off topic,
I'm looking for a cardboard cylindrical container to ship an object back east. It needs to be about 4 ft long by 4 or 5 inches in diameter.
Any ideas on where to find it?

[oneh2obabe]

Have fun ... took my son over a month to find one roughly that size to ship something to me from Ontario. I finally put it out in recycling a few months ago.

If you have a UPS Store or FedEx location close by, check with them to see if they have mailing tubes. Did a quick check and Purolator location has boxes, bubble wrap and mailer products for sale.
Purolator Ship Centre - Kamloops RC4402
800 Laval CRES
Kamloops BC, V2C 5P3
1-888-744-7123

Call some welding shops and see if they have any available ... welding rods come in cylinders that get recycled when empty. If all else fails, check with Walmart - the bailing wire they use for their compactors comes in tubes and ask the backroom manager if they can save you a tube.

If any of the above don't pan out, check Uline.
https://www.uline.ca/