Why We do not sell used boxes
In this day and age, virtually everyone wants to save money. One way that many people have traditionally gone about this in regards to shipping and moving is by finding used boxes. In theory it seems like a good idea, you are reusing, re-purposing, and saving a recyclable product from potentially ending up in a land fill.
The problem with this theory is that most often you don’t know who has used the boxes, what conditions they were used in, what was transported in them, where they were stored, or how they were generally handled.
Many people find used boxes at grocery or retail stores, liquor stores, behind warehouses, factories, office buildings, or from other people who have recently moved. The main problem with this is that boxes are a magnet for pests, and you can easily find yourself, your home, or place of business completely infested with some critters that can be very difficult to get rid of.
- Bed bugs are parasitic insects of the cimicid family that feed exclusively on blood. The term most commonly refers to members of the genus Cimex of which Cimex lectularius, the common bed bug, is the best known as it prefers to feed on human blood although other Cimex species are specialized to other animals, e.g., bat bugs, C. pipistrelli (Europe), C. pilosellus (western US), and C. adjunctus (entire eastern US).[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_bug
- Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria or Blattodea, of which about 30 species out of 4,500 total are associated with human habitats. About four species are well known as pests.[1][2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockroach
- Louse (plural: lice) is the common name for members of over 3,000 species of wingless insects of the order Phthiraptera; three of which are classified as human disease agents. They are obligateectoparasites of every avian and mammalian order except for monotremes(the platypus and echidnas), bats, whales, dolphins, porpoises and pangolins. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louse
- Lepisma saccharina, frequently called a silverfish or fishmoth is a small, winglessinsect in the orderThysanura. Its common name derives from the animal’s silvery light grey and blue colour, combined with the fish-like appearance of its movements, while thescientific name indicates the silverfish’s diet of carbohydrates such as sugar or starches. //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish
Many people and businesses that attempt to sell used boxes say that they spray them out with a disinfectant or some kind of over the counter insecticide. The problem with this is that it contaminates anything you put in the box with a harsh chemical that can not only damage some items, but often make people ill when they are not aware of it.
Yet another problem is that boxes have often been exposed to rodents which can spread all kinds of nasty things including Hantavirus, and Plague
- Hantaviruses are negative sense RNA viruses in the Bunyaviridae family. Humans may be infected with hantaviruses through urine, saliva or contact with rodent waste products. Some hantaviruses cause potentially fatal diseases in humans, such as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), but others have not been associated with human disease.[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hantavirus
- Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents (most notably rats) and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death and devastation it brought. Until June 2007, plague was one of the three epidemic diseases specifically reportable to the World Health Organization (the two other oneswere cholerandyellowfever).[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_(disease)