Are you like me? Do you have a cupboard, or a shelf in a hidden corner somewhere, which is full of empty boxes? I know I’m not the only one who does this.
I’m not talking about old Amazon delivery boxes, I’m talking about the packaging for old iPhones, laptops, even my new computer mouse. I spent £80 on this ergonomic track ball mouse that has been designed to tilt my wrist at the exact angle to prevent wrist strain, while at the same time reducing the micro-movements in my shoulder to prevent damage there too – or something.
Anyway, the point is, it cost more than £50 and the packaging was nice, so I kept the box ‘just in case’. I’m looking at it now. It’s sat on the top shelf in my office, and it’s in very good company. Its neighbours are the box for my ear buds and the box for my white noise machine.
I know I will probably never need these boxes again. Even if I sell these things some day on Vinted or wherever, I won’t get any more money for them if they are boxed. That’s a very old fashioned idea that hardly ever rings true these days.
But still. I keep the boxes.
Why Do I Keep Them?
I need an answer to this question. What’s wrong with me?
I tell myself the reason is that I might need them for something. It’s probably true at first. If I decided to return the item I would need the box, right? So keeping it for a month makes sense. It’s not random box hoarding, it’s sensible consumer behaviour.
However, that box still being there six years later, covered in a thick layer of dust, is most definitely venturing into unhealthy hoarding behaviour.
I could tell myself I keep the boxes in case I ever move house. But we all know that’s a lie. If we move house – and we’re not moving house – my fancy new mouse will be tossed into a carrier bag with all my other office electronics and put in the boot of the car.
It must just be a habit of days gone by. My grandma kept all the boxes. In fact, my grandma put things back in the boxes after using them. Seriously. She had one of those electric carving knives, and every Sunday it came out from under the stairs, she took it out of the box, got it ready, used it, washed it, dried it, repackaged it, and put it away under the stairs again. It was almost theatre.
Maybe I inherited this habit from my grandma?
Too Nice To Throw Away?
Now, I don’t have a box fetish or anything, but some of these boxes are really quite nice. Like, really nice. Way too nice to simply put in the recycling.
Look at this one I still haven’t managed to throw away:
It’s the box my new perfume came in. It’s so smooth!
The picture doesn’t do it justice but believe me when I tell you that this is an incredibly well made box. It’s sturdy, perfectly engineered with precise dimensions, and it makes a super satisfying “swoosh” noise when you close the lid as the air is forced out and the thick card edges brush against each other.
I have literally no use for this box. The perfume is half gone, and it was specifically designed for that perfume and that perfume alone.
But can I throw it away? Absolutely not.
My fella keeps threatening to bin it while I’m out of the house but I have warned him that would be grounds for divorce. We’re not married, but he knows what I mean.
I’ve just read this back and realised I sound like I need an intervention. I don’t. I’m fine. I just know a good box when I see one and find it difficult to throw them away.
Oh, who am I kidding? I have a problem, send help! But don’t send it in a box, because the chances are I will keep it.