We’re three weeks into our cardboard collection project.  Our goal is to fill our back room from floor to ceiling with cardboard that we will then donate to Project Share.  My original question was, “Can an empty box make a difference?” Here’s what I’ve noticed so far:

An empty box can:

1. get your neighbors talking (in a good way!).  Since starting our project we’ve had more opportunities to connect with the very quiet, highly elusive people who live around us. 

2. give people ideas.  Several of our neighbors and friends have really been thinking about where they can find cardboard.  One neighbor manages a local Sub Way and mentioned that his landlord won’t pay for a recycling bin, so they THROW AWAY all of their boxes.  Since we started our project he’s been bringing them to our house once a week and he’s planning to call Project Share to see if they can arrange to send a volunteer to pick-up in the future.  

3. make it more than a little difficult for door-to-door sales people to get to your door.  Ok, so when someone drops off a big slippy-slidey pile of cardboard we don’t always get it brought in right away.  So the night that two men from Comcast came, yet again, to ask why in the world we didn’t have Comcast they found a bit of a “barrier” between themselves and the irate woman answering the door.  (hmmmm . . . I guess cardboard worked both ways in that case, to their benefit and mine!)

3. teach teamwork.  The little cart we made for toting cardboard broke on day 2, so we’ve been hauling it awkwardly up and down the street since then.  Last week John sent me a text from work to tell me he saw some cardboard on his drive in.  I sent Sophia and Solomon running down our back alley to beat the recycling truck to a pile.  I loved watching them struggle down the street half-dragging, half-carrying it together.

4. live a little.  We’re proud to be loaning several boxes to some close friends who’re moving across town this summer.  This gives our boxes a chance to see a little more of the world before heading to the big recyling bin in the sky, er, I mean, Project Share.  Plus, we look forward to getting all of these boxes and more back when our friends unpack in August!

5. make eating ice cream cones on your porch more interesting:  

We’re about 1/2 way through our alloted time for collection and figure we’re about 1/2 way to filling our back room from floor to ceiling.  Stay tuned for updates and keep your eyes peeled for cardboard, we can use every little bit!