Whether you’re looking to minimise the amount of crap you own, reduce your footprint on the environment, or just don’t have enough money to buy nice things — you can find cardboard equivalents of almost everything you can think of. And besides being cheap, they’re easy and guilt-free to dispose of.
So here’s everything you need to live a cheap and disposable cardboard lifestyle. Except for maybe a good supply of bandages to deal with what will surely be a never-ending run of paper cuts.
Karton Cardboard Office
IKEA’s particle board furniture might be cheap and easy to transport, but it can’t hold a candle to this lightweight cardboard office furniture. (Which is a terrible idea, FYI.) Karton’s offerings are 100 per cent recyclable and 100 per cent customisable, letting you paint or finish them in any way, including going to town with a Sharpie. $US367. [clear]
Cardboard Animal Head Trophies
Just because you could never shoot another living creature doesn’t mean you should do without a trophy animal head hanging on your wall. These cardboard alternatives come in a variety of different animal designs and without those glass eyes staring back at you, they’re 100 per cent less creepy than the real thing. $US47-$US61. [clear]
Cardboard Cooler
Your typical styrofoam cooler does a bang up job at keeping things cold, it’s just too bad it takes hundreds of years to decompose. With adequate ice this recyclable cardboard alternative can keep food and drinks cold for up to 36 hours, and won’t perpetually clog up garage dumps when you chuck it. $US15. [clear]
IKEA KNÄPPA Cardboard Digital Camera
You probably upgrade your digital camera every year, so consider IKEA’s recyclable option the next time you need a new shooter. Powered by a set of AAs it’s able to snap and store up to 40 2.3-megapixel images which can be offloaded via a built-in USB port. There is some assembly required, but no frustrating allen wrenches, thankfully. TBA. [clear]
Cardboard Speakers
Don’t expect to blow the roof off any house parties with a pair of these foldable cardboard speakers blasting your tunes. With two watts of power between the pair their only real advantage is being highly portable since they collapse just like a cardboard box. But if you stack enough of them, they just might suffice for a small shindig. $US15. [clear]
Makedo Cardboard Connectors
Moving into a cardboard abode might be taking things a bit too far. But when you’re a kid there’s nothing more amazing than a cardboard fort. And if you don’t have any fridge boxes handy, these Makedo connectors let you patch together any cardboard into everything from robot suits, to forts, to spaceships. $US25. [clear]
Recompute Cardboard Computers
Computers and liquids already don’t mix. But with the Recompute cardboard PC case on your desk, you’ll want to be fanatical at keeping drinks at bay. It’s a fully functional AMD-based system that’s easy to recycle when it’s outdated. You’ll just want to make sure its internal components don’t run too hot for its paper housing. ~$US700.[clear]