Boxes, boxes everywhere...

We want to talk about something which is frankly, a bit dull. No, not about the third hour of a game of Monopoly but about cardboard. And not the exciting printed board game of delights cardboard either. Specifically, we want to discuss shipping boxes.

In her blog, “Is Cardboard Bad for the Environment?”, Inemesit Ukpanah reveals that in the UK alone, families discard up to 13000 pieces of cardboard annually. Quite a lot of this ends up in landfill. When it decomposes in landfill, cardboard releases methane, the big bad of the greenhouse gas world. The United States in 2022 recycled around 93% of cardboard boxes; it takes 25%-50% less energy to recycle than make new so that's a great saving.

But is there a better way? Is there a way to reduce this further whilst making things cheaper for everyone?

Remember those 13,000 pieces of cardboard? Here at Kaioss Games, we reuse them. You may notice that when you order from us, the shipping box doesn't say “Kaioss Games” on it but may say all manner of companies. Where possible, we will always ship our products in reused boxes with reused packing material. This is not only better for the environment but also helps us to keep the shipping costs down.

As a very small family company, we can't afford to offer free shipping. Instead, we aim to offer profit-free shipping. Our shipping rates are based on what we have to pay for shipping combined with the cost of packing material, integrated labels and printing. Reusing packing material and boxes means that we can reduce shipping costs and pass that saving on to you.

Sometimes, we have to buy shipping material. It can't be helped as we don't always have the right packaging for the job. However, any packing material we do buy will always be the eco-friendly, the 1% for planet type. We will never buy plastic packing material. If you open up your parcel and find it filled with bubble wrap, we guarantee that it was reused from something we have been sent.

So, the point of this rambly and fairly dull blog? To say why we reuse boxes. It's better for the environment and it's better for your wallet and ultimately, we know that unlike a three year old on their birthday, you would rather focus on the contents than on the fancy box. And we have some very exciting contents to offer indeed... why not take a peek here!