All it took was two episodes of "Hoarders" and I knew that the next morning I was going to...had to...go downstairs to clean out our apartment basement storage area. Hidden downstairs was a slowly expanding Jenga pile of boxes, the majority of them empty, but all kept under the presumption I'd need them later for moving or resale. It was time to get serious and clean house for 2012...
The biggest source of empty boxes were for electronics and appliances. It seems I had kept every camera, audio component, video game console, computer, and appliance packaging and box, some which I no longer even owned! It was time to use the three pile system of decluttering: "toss", "keep" and "maybe".
We'd change this t-shirt's answer to, "Hoarders Keep the Styrofoam Liners to Electronics".
Determining what to toss and what to keep was fairly easy. If I no longer owned the item or strongly believed I was going to use/own the item for more than 5 years, the box was getting tossed into recycling. If the packaging was for a product with a quick update/upgrade replacement cycle, like computers or camera equipment, I kept the packaging and broke them down flat for optimized storage.
Of course, a few "maybes" can bring any decluttering project to a halt, with niggling, "but I might need this later" thoughts sneaking back into the head. But the rule I set myself was for any "maybe" kept, I was to throw out three other packaging items that fell into "maybe" territory. I discovered using this system, I ended up keeping only one small box, and I in an hour's time, I was able to reduce the towering pile by 50% (I was battling a flu, so I called it a day after filling the apartment trash/recycling). The results were ultimately very satisfying and ensure I will not be making any appearance on Hoarders any time soon.
Storing Electronics Packaging Guideline:
1. When possible, break down boxes and store flat. But before doing so, it could be helpful to take a photo of how items were packed originally before removing elements; this will make repacking easier if you move or plan to resell items. Exceptions noted below.
2. For big ticket items like HDTVs and computers, keep the packaging as long as it's covered by the manufacturer's warranty. Afterward, break down boxes and either store away or recycle.
3. Most appliance packaging can and should be tossed away after a few weeks of use; packaging for kitchen and home appliances do not usually affect resale value as much as electronics, and their larger size takes up too much room.
4. Keep the packaging for regularly upgraded tech like digital cameras, laptops, and smartphones. This insures when you upgrade, the resale value of your old device will earn the highest bid. We usually do not break down or fold these packaging flat, but instead store them inside a larger box.
5. Keep instruction manuals, warranties and other literature in a filing cabinet, especially if the boxes for the item have been broken down and stored flat. Better yet, many manufacturers make instruction manuals available online; download them and keep them on a flash drive (just in case you lose internet connection).
6. Consider listing your excess storage boxes on Craigslist for other who may need them for moving purposes.
7. Here are some ideas of what to do with any excess packing peanuts.
(Images: 1. Gregory Han, 2. Zazzle)
Dirty Little Secrets of Tidy Families
Hillary & Michael's Refined Roost
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Nomade Express Slee...
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
My Staple Summer Cocktail Recipe: Campari & IPA Spritzer
Seriously? The flatscreen tv...keeping that box makes sense, since it would be virtually impossible to move it (safely) otherwise. I do keep all the receipts and manuals for appliances and gear in a file. In my experience, the box that my laptop came in wasn't beefy enough for mailing it to the manufacturer--and they sent me complimentary box/labels to return it while it was under warranty. I guess if you have space and the inclination to resell you can keep all the camera boxes and crap--but really seems like that can go right into recycling.
If you're breaking down the packaging, it means you're throwing out those perfectly form-fitting styrofom pieces. WIthout those, isn't the box you're saving just like any other box you could get? Why not recycle them all? - then when it's time to move, you can raid the recyle bin for someone else's boxes (that you haven't stored for the last 8 years).
Movers will charge $100 to RENT a flat screen TV box to move it, makes sense to keep that one if you've got room.
BEM10001: the problem is HDTV boxes for larger displays are large enough to be a hassle to store for most apartment dwellers like myself. Yes, if you've got a garage or attic, keeping it stored flat could be advisable (for the same reason I advise keeping it for the length of the manufacturers warranty).
BTW, I've moved my older 40" HDTV two times now without a box, carefully wrapped with a blanket and a Saran Wrap over the front screen. Like my computer equipment, I don't usually let movers handle my electronics and move these myself.
we usually don't throw away/recycle ANY boxes because 1) we are paranoid about someone going through our garbage to see what goodies there might be inside the house (yes, we're those kinds of people) and 2) we do a lot of shipping, or can usually find good use for cardboard in many projects.
echoing the sentiment about large tv boxes. don't throw those away!!! and keep the foam. if there's one box you should keep in its entirety, it's the flat screen/low profile tv. we've kept ours since we get the tv many years ago, and it's been invaluable.
we live in an apartment but the complex was smart enough to build an attic above each carport. amazing storage for xmas stuff, bikes off season, and for boxes for a box hoarder like myself. i am the same way. I have so many boxes up there. Pots and pans, check. Why? Because it is a NICE box. WTF is wrong with me. But they are all up there. i figured if i don't need them when it is moving time, they get recylced at that point. Some stuff is easier to move in their original boxes.
I do have both tv boxes but those are at home in my parents huge attic above their barn. They were too big to keep here and i know if i move they will be helping probably, so they shall live there.
i did see some tv boxes turned into a cool play castle for kids. great way to recycle.
Once their return period was over, I threw away our flat screen boxes. Or, rather, I pried them from the vice-like grip of my borderline Hoarders husband. "But we might need them some day! For something!" In my defense, we've moved our flat-screens several times without boxes; the movers wrapped them carefully, and no harm came to them. We live in a world of easily obtained shipping supplies--why should I sacrifice space in a 740-sq-ft apartment to empty boxes?
I don't save them once it's clear they won't need to be returned to the store. If there is a problem the manufacturer will accept them without the original packaging. I was finally able to convert my box-hoarding husband to Team Purge when he stuffed the flat screen box in the attic and broke an AC condenser pipe, sending a stream of water down through the ceiling and walls.
I threw out a 17 year old fax in it's original box and packaging. I keep everything until whatever came in the box breaks.
That cat looks extremely disappointed by the amount of packaging on the table. LOL!
Good tips... in the past 6 months I've had my first walk in closet and its slowly becoming a tech box graveyard. I know what I'm doing this weekend!
Like many others, I really have no space for boxes. I keep them long enough to make sure the item works/ I want to keep it, and then those boxes go into recycling. I have never needed a box again, so it works for me!
I was not a frequent "mover" between apartments, so I tossed nearly everything with the exception of the projector box (yes, I did not have a tv, I had a projector - totally recommend for moving purposes if your TV viewing room is dark), my stereo system box and the storage box for my kitchen glasses and nice crystal-like glasses (saved so much hassle wrapping them!). Would totally recommend keeping boxes for long-term items if you are likely to move in the next few years, but otherwise, ditch that stuff right in the recycling bin!
I used to keep printer boxes and such in my garage. When I went to retrieve them upon moving, I found several black widow spiders and egg sacs inside them. Never again! I am regretting just tossing the box from our new flatscreen, but if we have to move, I'll try the blankets and plastic wrap method suggested here.
Cardboard is a breeding ground for cockroaches! I never save boxes or packaging, I have moved over 15 times in the past 13 years and I have never missed a box. Never.
We keep the boxes (intact, not crashed down when they become useless) for any technology we are likely to upgrade and resell -- all cell phones, computers, and certain other things. NOT printers, speakers, cameras, etc. that we probably won't upgrade any time soon. Since my partner sells things on eBay and gets very good resale prices for them, this has worked out well for us.
You laugh at the guy who keeps his printer box until he moves overseas and gives you the printer, nicely packed in its box for when you drive it home.
I put packaging straight into recycling. Sometimes this is before I've even confirmed that the device works. I don't laugh at people who keep packaging, it's just not something I do.
What I would really like is for there to be less packaging. And I would like every manufacturer of plastic to be taxed so that an international agency could be funded to deal with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Thank you for posting this! We just went through the same process. After moving MANY times in the last few years, we are finally settled and have been able to sort through the empty boxes we hoarded in preparation for the next move. I went through a similar debate, but ended up giving away or recycling all of the boxes. For some items I was unsure about, I took a picture of the "proof of purchase" with my digital camera. I felt so relieved and could not believe that I had kept schlepping around a toaster box all of these years, especially since I am such a minimalist elsewhere in my life.
yeah, you should keep the tv box for as long as you own it. My husband threw away our tv box and I've been pissed at him ever since. Its always a nightmare whenever we have to move now since we have no way of packing it up other than cushioning it around a bunch of blankets.
Itisn't just about moving. Sending in some products requires the box OR the purchase of an expensive box. At least so says a friend who once had to pay $75 for a box and now keeps all of his in his mother's basement.
We're a military family, so there is always the prospect of a lot of moves in our future. I may have a tiny bit of hoarding in me, but I am always looking for ways to reuse things and keep things organized and streamlined. I keep most of the product boxes for things that we buy. For electronics and things like that, I can pack them back in and move them safely across the country. I have a stash of flattened cardboard boxes in the garage (from our last move), ready to be reused when we move again (later this year, probably).
I also keep nearly all of the tubs, jars, containers, and boxes that our food comes in. I use them, and generally throw them out or send them out in the recycling after a few extra uses. The boxes (like large cracker boxes) are great for storing small things, like art supplies or unused knickknacks (although I acknowledge that those knickknacks are usually better for just throwing out. :)
Another kind of box that I think is invaluable: the ones that drinking glasses come in.
In my experience I have found my self selling most of my electronics within 2 years of purchase so keeping the box and manuals is a extra bonus when it comes to selling. I find buyers are way more interested in something which has original packaging even if it is used. But on the other hand, big boxes for flat screens and big printers are useless. Its better to sell those items on Craigslist allowing the interested people to come check it out in person and deal with transporting themselves. I don't really move so keeping big boxes for that purpose has never been an issue.
After I last moved, my boyfriend and I kept our boxes for about a month (we'd moved across the country and weren't sure if we would stay in grad housing). When we decided it was finally time to let the boxes go we posted them to craigslist. Within a day a very grateful lady came and got them for her upcoming move!! She was thrilled to get free boxes and we were thrilled they wouldn't end up in a landfill. Win win :)
Retrocatz is right about cardboard attracting roaches, and it's also a silverfish magnet, ick! I only keep packaging until the warranty expires (or until my cat finds the box and rips it to shreds). In my case, it helps that I don't own a lot of electronics or appliances anyway, and on the rare occasion I buy them, I buy the best quality I can afford so I won't have to replace them for a VERY long time. I don't think I even HAVE any product packaging left.
I buy my electronics at the thrift store and cram them in old milk crates when i move.
I have to say I keep my electronics boxes. Of course only those that I still have the electronics for. In the last 11 years we have moved 8 times. Its just the nature of going where the work is so having these boxes makes it so much easier when it comes time to move. We can just stick the iMac back in its box with its packaging that keeps it stable and then we dont have to worry about the movers damaging it. We do that will all of our electronics and thus far have had no breaks in those departments with movers as of yet.
I generally keep my boxes for as long as I have the product, or if it's a large box, until the warranty expires. I've got a large crawlspace in part of my basement, so there's tons of room down there.
I am a dedicated purger, but I keep the wax liners from cereal boxes ... I eat a lot of cereal and this way I don't have to buy wax paper - saves me money and saves a product from being manufactured.
Wow, I'm weirded out by this article. I keep manuals for too long, but I don't think I err on the side of keeping packaging. Especially since there are hundreds of liquor and grocery stores in my city where I can go to get a box any time I need one. If I think I might return an item then I'll keep the packaging until I decide one way or another, then it's out the door.
If you are stressing over keeping your packaging, it is probably a good time to declutter your whole life, not just your basement. Check out the checklist at (not my website): http://zenhabits.net/simple-living-manifesto-72-ideas-to-simplify-your-life/
I usually only keep the packaging for something if I think I might sell it down the road. But if the box is large or takes up a lot of space then I just get rid of it right away.
I find it to be a hassle when moving to have a bunch of oddly-sized boxes. It's much easier to pack in a few different standard sizes. I think we've kept some boxes for Apple products, though. During a previous move, I paid for and then saved those special boxes for dishes and glassware, and they were wonderful. But when we bought our current condo, we didn't anticipate moving anytime soon, and I had to weigh the prospect of re-buying those against giving up all that storage space. I'd rather have the storage space for other things.
I just got rid of a bunch of peanuts--not recyclable.
We've been in our house 10 years, not planning on moving anytime soon. But Hubby won't get rid of or go through things. But he says enough is enough and we'll start with our "office" next year. I'm saving the basement for 2014, but I think I'll try to at least start. Btw, my mom IS a hoarder. Her house is going to be murder to go through.