What do you do when your resolution is to cut back on all of the clutter around your home, starting with the pile of Amazon delivery boxes left over from the holiday gifting season? Amazon has a solution to both problems with its partnership with the Give Back Box program, a program that lets Amazon customers reuse Amazon boxes to ship donations for free. Plus, it can be tax deductible when you sign up for the program. The program was originally developed by Monika Wiela, who saw that her online shoe store could help people donate their goods.
To take advantage of the Give Back Box program, simply empty an Amazon delivery box and refill it with anything you wish to donate. You can donate anything from old clothes and shoes, to old toys and appliances or household goods you no longer use. Once you’ve filled the box, tape it shut and slap the pre-paid shipping label you can print out through the Give Back Box website on the top and take it to your local post office or shipping center.
On the website you’ll enter your zip code and email address, which helps determine the closest donation center that will be taking your goods. This diminishes the carbon footprint of the shipped goods, while assuring that your donations go straight back into helping your local community. Some of the organizations that have partnered with Give Back Box are Goodwill, the Choose Love Foundation, and Bridgeport Rescue Mission, to name a few.
Amazon’s Other Sustainability Initiatives
Amazon has been investing in ways to further its sustainability efforts in recent years. The company pledged to continue to invest in the Closed Loop Fund, an organization that helps increase resources that let companies recycle and reuse their product packaging.
The Closed Loop Fund, which was created in 2014 by Ron Gonen, aims to help increase the availability of curbside recycling programs in new places throughout the United States. Amazon has invested $10 million into the program, aiming to put packaging and other goods back into the manufacturing supply chain instead of seeing them go to waste.
Consumers can also opt to trade in eligible items for upgrades through Amazon in addition to being able to reuse Amazon boxes for donations, in the same way that you would trade in your old phone for a newer model every couple of years. The company also accepts electronics for recycling, and consumers can inquire about how to send their old electronics in through the company’s second chance page on its website.
