4×4 Project 1

Concept: Re-purposing massive waste due to too many shipping boxes.

Strategy: Use received cardboard boxes for a new purpose

Manifestation:
I received 5 boxes in the mail this week.  Normally when I have things shipped to me, I ask that all of my items from one store be shipped together to use less packaging and postage.  This week, for some reason, both of the online outlets I ordered from (both the mega-online book and mega-electronics stores will remain nameless), decided to ship my items in as many boxes necessary to get my items to me faster.  To be honest, I would have appreciated more if the stores would have honored my request for less packaging, even if it meant receiving my items later.

I could not bear to just throw out all of the now-useless boxes, and have no pressing shipping needs.  With Platform 21’s Repair Manifesto #1 rule in mind,

Make your products live longer! Repairing is not anti-consumption.  It is anti-needlessly throwing things away.

I decided to dedicate my first 4×4 project to repurposing the shipping materials.  Boxes, bubble wrap, and paper included.

Supplies: cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, scrap paper, cutting mat, X-acto knife, scissors, tape, glue

Bookends

Lap desk

Sketchbook

Lessons learned: Repurposing cardboard is not as easy as it sounds.  While the material is sturdy and resilient, it is not the most beautiful material to design with.