Being Resourceful Takes Effort

Sometimes it’s easy to accumulate quite a bit of materials just by simply buying things. Because we live in a society that produces so much extra packaging materials and shipping supplies, it’s quite simple to amass a lot of things that you can put away and use for later. And it’s all for free (if you think of it that way).

Often times, we throw those materials away. For example, think of all the cardboard boxes you’ve tossed in the garbage simply because you thought you had no other use for them. Those could be put to use in so many other ways, yet you’ve just mindlessly tossed them. Next time you buy something online, think about conserving your cardboard for future use. You could use it for kindling a fire, soaking up oil spills in the garage, or even compost it.

So, what other uses do you have for your excess shipping supplies like cardboard and leftover packaging materials? Read on for a few unique ideas!

Using for your fire pit.

I understand that having some fire bricks or other firestarters are perfect for an outdoor fire pit. Heck, if you like to rough it, you can even go gather a handful of dry twigs for the perfect kindling. But we like being resourceful and not letting anything go to waste, so I’ve started tossing small ripped up pieces of cardboard into our fire pit whenever we’re starting a fire, and sure enough, it works like a charm. In fact, we save money on not buying fire bricks and also allow our backyard twigs to break down as natural compost. It’s a great situation both for our property and for our wallets.

Makeshift backing for a dartboard.

We installed a steel tip dartboard in our basement about a year ago, and it’s served us quite well ever since. But every now and then, our aim fails us and we end up with a few bent dart tips because of the stone wall behind the board. So, we decided to hang a sheet of cardboard behind the dartboard in order to preserve our somewhat expensive darts. While rigging it up wasn’t the easiest thing ever, we managed to make it somewhat presentable. But more than presentation, we’ve nailed it in the utility department. Now, our errant darts make certain to not scratch our wall or bend their tips when they miss the main board. For something that cost us absolutely zero and looks alright, I’d say we managed to make something out of nothing.