Local Food Pantry: Who Buys Used Cardboard?

We here at Affton Patch have come across a question we can’t answer, and we’re hoping you can help: How can a local food pantry get paid for all their extra cardboard?

The Affton Christian Food Pantry helps struggling families find the food they need. Much of the food from donations and local food banks comes in cardboard boxes, so the pantry has volunteers dedicated to breaking down, transporting and recycling spare cardboard each month.

“We generate a lot of cardboard,” said volunteer Marie Labus.

Labus said she’s been looking for someone to pay her for the extra cardboard, generating much-needed revenue for the pantry.

“I guess it’s silly, but I guess that’s what I was looking for,” she said. “But nobody wants to pay me. They want me to pay them, and I say, ‘I’m a pantry. I can’t afford you.’”

The pantry posted an advertisement on a volunteer matching website looking for cardboard haulers, someone with a big car who could spend an hour or two a week taking the cardboard to the recycling bins.

“That would be OK, too,” Labus said about bringing on more cardboard haulers. But she’s still holding on to her goal of trading cardboard for money.

So we thought we’d ask: Anybody know how a non-profit organization can sell their used cardboard? If not, do you have the time to haul their cardboard once a week?