Here at Essential Print Services, we do all we can to reduce our impact on the environment. We’re constantly thinking of new ways to help our precious planet.

One of the many ways is to encourage our clients to re-use the bags and boxes that contain their precious print.

Here are ten ways to re-use an empty cardboard box:

  1. Take it grocery shopping and use it instead of a bag to carry heavier items.
  2. Build a space rocket! If you’ve got a larger box, you could cut some leg and armholes, paint it grey with coloured dots, pretend to be life-size Print Bot.
  3. If you have a large order with multiple boxes, you could build an igloo or an office den
  4. Use it as a house for your guinea pig (or any other small pet)
  5. When your tortoise is ready for its winter sleep, use it as a cosy bed for him or her (draw a picture of your tortoise on the outside, so you don’t accidentally throw them away)
  6. Wrap the boxes in environmentally-friendly coloured paper and put them under your Christmas tree for decoration
  7. Our small business card boxes could be used to grow cress or other kitchen herbs
  8. Decorate any size box and use it for storage
  9. Pass it on to someone moving house
  10. If you don’t want to do any of the things above, then take it to be recycled!

How do you use your boxes? Let us know, and we’ll add it to the list. The more ideas we have, the easier it will be for people to re-use our packaging and help the planet.

Here are some of the many small changes we’ve made so far that we hope will make a big difference:

  • Our Matt and gloss laminates are biodegradable
  • The paper we print on is FSC certified, and inks are sustainable
  • We walk, cycle or scooter to work and appointments as often as possible
  • We’ve swapped our cellophane bags to biodegradable ones
  • We supply business cards in cardboard business card boxes rather than plastic ones
  • We’ve swapped promotional pens for pencils, which are made from recycled paper
  • We use paper “bubble wrap” instead of plastic but, when a job needs to be kept dry, the paper wrap isn’t practical.
  • Our milk is delivered in glass bottles, which can be used over and over again
  • We use our air conditioning and heating only when necessary
  • If boxes and packaging we receive are in good condition, we re-use them

What changes can you and your colleagues make to reduce your impact on the environment? Let us know. Drop us a line via our contact page.