Crates vs cardboard
Plastic moving crates vs cardboard boxes
Cardboard has had its day. Here's exactly why reusable crates make for a stronger, cheaper, greener and far less stressful move.
The trouble with cardboard boxes
We've all been there. You buy a stack of cardboard boxes, spend an evening folding and taping them together, and load them up, only for the bottom to give way on the stairs. They dent, they crush, they crumple when you stack them, and the moment they get wet in the rain or a damp van, they fall apart and take your belongings down with them.
Then there's the hidden cost. Cardboard boxes are rarely just the price of the boxes:
- ✕ Boxes themselves, dozens needed for a family home
- ✕ Tape and a tape gun (and the spare rolls you'll run out of)
- ✕ Bubble wrap and packing paper to compensate for weak walls
- ✕ Your time flat-pack building every box
- ✕ Fuel and trips to buy them, and again to recycle them
- ✕ Replacing anything damaged when a box gives way
The maths on a 2-bedroom move
A full set of new boxes, tape, a tape gun, bubble wrap and packing paper can easily run £150 to £220 once you add it all up, and you still fold and tape every box, then haul them to the tip afterwards. Our 2-bedroom crate hire is £119, all in, with a dolly, delivery and collection included, and the crates are reused, not binned.
Add it all up and buying cardboard is a false economy, as expensive or more, far more hassle, and much more wasteful than it looks.
Side by side
| Evergreen Crates reusable crates | Cardboard boxes | |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | ✓Rigid walls, hold up to 30kg, stack safely when full | ✕Flimsy, bottoms burst under weight, crush when stacked |
| Water & damp | ✓Waterproof plastic, rain, damp garages and wet vans are no problem | ✕Soak through and collapse in the rain; contents get wet and ruined |
| Sealing | ✓Clip-shut attached lids, no tape, ever | ✕Need rolls of tape and a tape gun to seal (and to build) every box |
| Setup | ✓Delivered ready to use, just open and pack | ✕Flat-packed: fold, tape and build every single box by hand |
| Protecting contents | ✓Solid sides shield fragile items; nothing dents or crushes | ✕Dent and cave in easily, breakages and squashed belongings |
| Stacking & moving | ✓Uniform sizes stack neatly on the included dolly and in the van | ✕Mismatched sizes, awkward to stack, no dolly included |
| After the move | ✓We collect them, nothing for you to deal with | ✕Break them all down and haul them to recycling yourself |
| Environmental impact | ✓Reused many times over, sanitised between hires, near-zero waste | ✕Mostly single-use; millions end up in landfill each year |
| Total cost | ✓One flat price, dolly + delivery + collection included | ✕Boxes + tape + tape gun + bubble wrap + your time + tip runs |
The green choice
Reused, cleaned, repeated
This is where crates really pull ahead. Every one of our crates is used many times over its life, not once. After each hire we bring them back, sanitise every single crate, and send them out clean and ready for the next move.
That means no mountains of flattened cardboard, no tape, no bubble wrap, and nothing heading to landfill after your move. One crate quietly replaces dozens of single-use boxes. It's one of the simplest ways to make a genuinely greener move, without paying a premium for it.
Reused
over and over, not once
0
tape or bubble wrap needed
Every hire
crates sanitised before reuse
Zero
cardboard to landfill
Make the switch from cardboard
Stronger boxes, a free dolly, delivery and collection, and a clear conscience, from £79.