How to Recycle Cardboard

Recycling cardboard not only helps the environment, it will also save you money.

Nowadays people are much more aware of the importance of recycling. We now understand that in order to preserve our planet we need to take more care of it. Waste is being poured into landfill, causing somewhat unknown damage to the environment. Most councils now operate recycling collections, and if you contact them they will provide you with a list of what can and cannot be recycled. Most cardboard can be recycled, and most kerbside collections will pick it up, however there are ways you can recycle it in your home yourself. Here are some tips on how to recycle cardboard yourself….

1. Keep large boxes used when moving house, even if you don’t plan to move again, friends, family or neighbours may do and they can use these boxes, without having to buy new. These boxes are also great to use as storage boxes in garages or lofts.
2. Schools, nurseries and playgroups are always needing boxes and pots for crafts and will be very grateful of donations.
3. Toilet roll tubes or small cardboard boxes are perfect to use as starter trays when planting seeds in your garden. Cut tubes in half and place them on a tray. Fill the tubes or boxes with soil and one or two seeds. When transplanting the seedlings they can be planted in the tube as it is biodegradable, or simply wet the cardboard and it should easily peel off.
4. Cardboard and toilet or kitchen roll tubes can be used to prevent necklaces becoming tangled together and earrings being lost. Unhook the clasp of your necklace and run the chain through the centre of a kitchen towel tube, fastening it back up so the tube is trapped by the necklace. You can then poke earrings through the end of the tube or on a separate sheet of cardboard.
5. Cardboard boxes can provide hours of fun for children and really get their creative juices flowing. Large boxes can be used to enhance role play, creating dens, cars, trains or anything their imagination desires. Smaller boxes can be used to for junk modelling, where they can glue together boxes of various sizes and decorate them.

Finding space to store cardboard can be difficult. Break down boxes so that they are flat, they can then be stacked much easier. Watch out for staples in cardboard boxes, these can be recycled with the cardboard but can be sharp. Check with your local recycling program to see if you need to remove tape from cardboard before recycling it and avoid recycling cardboard stained with food or any type of oil.

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