Being Environmentally Conscious is Hard

We need boxes for packing. Based on how frequently I see semi truck trailers parked behind local stores this should be an easy problem to solve. In the old days people would just drive to almost any grocery or department store and ask for their unneeded boxes. Usually you'd get some. Hit a different place the next day, etc. Sometimes you could get all you'd ever want from one place. It's a great benefit for them because they don't have to mess with breaking them down or otherwise disposing of them.

Nowadays when people move they go out and buy moving boxes. This borders on the insane to me. They're expensive, and when you're finished they end up in the same landfills as most discarded boxes. (Yeah, I know there is recycling now, but a lot of it still ends up in landfills.) In fairness these purchased boxes can be quite nice for moving. They are just the right size (heck, just having a uniform size makes the truck pack so much easier), and often have other cool features to make life easier. But even though we could get this done much more efficiently by purchasing them it goes against my sensibilities to waste like that.

So we've been trying to acquire boxes from some stores. Now I know why people just buy them. What a pain. We've spoken to four or five different stores now, a few of them on several occasions. Thus far we've  acquired about 10 boxes, most of which were virtually unusable -- they were fruit boxes that had no tops, and large gaps all over. They never seem to have any when we call so invariably it turns into something where they promise to hold some back out of the next shipment they get. Many of these places get one or two shipments per day. However, when we follow up we find that Manager A (who is working one shift) seems to have not communicated it to Manager B (working the other shift). And so we don't get boxes. Try back later, call at such-in-such time, ask for so-in-so, etc. Every imaginable thing, and it doesn't get done. The guy at the grocery where we got the fruit boxes was a hoot. He seemed to have no idea that moving boxes required lids. Liane wanted to ask, "Uh, have you ever MOVED before?" Alas it isn't worth burning more energy debating it.

Of all the things we're dealing with it blows my mind how much time and energy this one simple little thing has now cost us. Thankfully I have stored quite a few boxes in anticipation of our eventual move so it hasn't hit critical mass yet. If I find myself in the store buying boxes in a few days I sure will feel defeated.