Think Outside the (Gaylord) Box
A gaylord box is essentially a giant, sturdy corrugated container. While they are designed for warehouse bulk storage and shipping, their size and durability make them useful for dozens of non-packaging applications.
1. Raised Garden Beds
Line a gaylord with landscape fabric, fill with soil, and you have an instant raised bed. The corrugated walls retain moisture and eventually decompose into the soil, adding carbon. Perfect for a single growing season. Community gardens in Portland have used this approach extensively.
2. Compost Bins
Poke drainage holes in the bottom and sides of a gaylord, add your green and brown material, and you have a working compost bin. The cardboard walls are themselves compostable — they will break down over 6-12 months, at which point you will have a mound of finished compost.
3. Event Recycling Stations
At outdoor events, festivals, and farmers markets, gaylords make instant recycling and waste collection stations. Label each one (glass, plastic, cardboard, trash) and place them at high-traffic points. After the event, fork them onto a truck for processing.
4. Children's Play Structures
With some creativity and a box cutter, a gaylord becomes a castle, a rocket ship, a fort, or a playhouse. Schools and daycares love them because they are free, safe (no sharp edges when properly cut), and can be recycled when the kids are done.
5-10: More Ideas
5. Pet kennels — Emergency or temporary animal shelters. Rescue organizations use gaylords with cutout doors for large-dog containment.
6. Workshop catch bins — Place under workbenches to catch sawdust, metal shavings, or scraps.
7. Donation collection — Clothing drives, food drives, and toy drives. The gaylord's huge capacity reduces overflow.
8. Temporary insulation — Line the inside of a poorly insulated room or structure with flattened corrugated for surprisingly effective temporary insulation.
9. Art projects — Theater sets, parade floats, school art installations. The large flat surfaces are a blank canvas.
10. Worm farms — Lined with landscape fabric, a gaylord makes an excellent worm composting bin. The porous walls allow air circulation while retaining moisture.