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Inside the Box Do you remember a news item a few years ago, about how an empty cardboard box was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame? You probably don't, but it has always stuck in my mind. It really made me happy that the Toy Hall of Fame would recognize that some of the best toys are mostly products of kids' imaginations, and sometimes not even designed to be toys at all. by Tom Watson To me (over-thinking the whole thing, I'm sure), that Toy Hall of Fame recognition for the cardboard box was also a celebration of reuse. Kids take an old appliance box and before you know it, it's a spaceship or a fort. Children have always reused stuff and created something new, and these days reuse seems to be taken more seriously in the adult world as well. Factors contributing to this growth in reuse include websites such as Craigslist (www.craigslist.org) and Freecycle (www.freecycle.org), lots of new stores carrying used items, and a wealth of media coverage.

But we can still do a lot better. Recycling appears to have cemented itself in the public consciousness as the number one solution to waste problems, but experts in the solid waste field all agree that reduction and reuse should be the top priorities.

Sticking with the box example, cardboard boxes (the kind used for packages or shipping) are highly recyclable. They are known in the recycling business as "old corrugated containers," or OCC. But they can and should be reused, and not just by kids for playhouses.

One creative system to encourage the reuse of corrugated boxes has been launched by the U-Haul company. On the U-Haul Box Exchange website (www.uhaul.com/boxexchange), click on "Let me exchange boxes" and you go to a messageboard that you can use to trade, sell or buy reusable boxes and moving supplies. Once you're on the messageboard, scroll down and click on either "Free used boxes in the West" or "Buying/selling boxes in the West" to see the listings.

But you don't necessarily need a fancy online service like that. Most reuse happens just because people make the choice to try to do it. They think, "I'll ask my friends if they can use these boxes," or "I'm not going to buy boxes - I'll go to the grocery store and see if they have any I can use."

Basically it's just thinking outside the box about reuse. And if we do it not just for cardboard boxes, but for everything, we'll save money, reduce waste and conserve resources. We can't forget reduction, both using less stuff ourselves and encouraging businesses to use less wasteful and less toxic packaging. But when we do have something we don't need anymore, we need to get into the "reuse zone" in our heads. Now let's see, what can I do with this big chunk of Styrofoam?

For more EcoConsumer resources from King County, visit www.KCecoconsumer.com.