Corrugated Cardboard Boxes – Cost-Effective & Eco-Friendly

Corrugated cardboard boxes are the definitive staple of packaging.  Who hasn’t shipped something in a cardboard box before?  Just about everyone has.  They’re the default medium to ship in for three reasons: 1) the boxes are relatively cheap to make, 2) they’re strong for cardboard, and 3) they’re very versatile.  Corrugated cardboard boxes are recyclable, and are also made out of recyclable materials, making them environmentally friendly as well.  The boxes can be compressed with warm water and made into slurry, which can then be used to make other paper products.

Corrugated cardboard boxes are so prevalent in packaging because of how easy they are to make.  Corrugators can churn out board at rapid rates now, which is why some stores can sell a thousand 6 cubic inch boxes for as little as 20p per box.  That’s just one example, but the boxes themselves are one of the cheapest things that go into shipping something.  Furthermore, the boxes are made of varying board thickness, but even the thinnest board is surprisingly strong.  The thickest boxes are strong enough to carry fairly heavy items without bending, which makes them the most cost-effective way to ship heavy bulk items, especially if the box is made with handles built in.

Versatility is another great benefit of corrugated cardboard boxes.  They’re truly “one size fits all.”  While the boxes are made in varying sizes, so many different items can fit in them.  Even fragile items can survive the bumps of shipping inside the box, provided there’s enough padding to soften the blows.  They can be manufactured as a top loading box (as most of them are), or a side loading box (perfect for thin, flat items such as picture frames).  They can be made as long, as wide, or as deep as necessary.  There is literally a box for everything and anything you want to ship.

So, what’s so special about corrugated cardboard boxes?   It is cost-effectiveness, versatility, strength, and eco-friendliness.  Where else are you going to find all of those things in one neat package?  Yes, cardboard boxes are rather plain and ordinary to look at, but they can’t be beat when it comes to getting something from point A to point B in a safe, reliable manner.  This is why they’re the most popular packaging method out there, next to the envelope.  Cardboard boxes aren’t very complicated, but they do work.