Plastic package? Unless it's a very well made box (in which case I will find some use to it), it's send to recycling.
Cardboard?
- I will keep a few to be able to send stuff myself (why pay for boxes when you're already receiving perfectly fine ones)
- I like to use it too to scratch simple little boxes and storage I need for small stuff. One of the last one I made (out of recycled packaging) is this... thing (I don't know the English word, sorry) where I can store pens and index cards, on my desk.
It's not pretty but that's just me not worrying about making it look nice. I care about it doing its job and being cheap (aka, free) and quick to assemble (I will often make two or three attempts before getting it right so I prefer when it can be done quickly).
Along the years, I have made quite a few of those cardboard things and even offered a few to people who wanted one. For example, the very last thing I made is this... I don't know if this even have a name?
It's a portable A6-sized index card holder. Between the two cardboard sheets there is a foldable space that acts as a storage for extra cards. as you can see, on one side it is also a makeshift pen holder. The whole thing is made out of sturdy black paper (the black foldable thing), an old binder (the purplish cardboard) and some pen case part I imagine a kid had thrown away that I salvaged from the recycling bin.
What do I use it for? I take all my reading notes on index cards and it helps a lot having a small flat surface to write on. For years I had been using makeshift solutions but it was never great. So a couple weeks ago I decided I had enough and started working on my own solution. That the second iteration of it and I think it's close enough to being exactly what I want it to be that I won't need to make a third attempt. And, yep, it will stay the ugly duck it is. At least up until it's damaged enough for me to be willing to make a new and a prettier one ;)
I have no idea if anyone else on the planet could ever be interested in using such a thing but to me it's great and I like it a lot. It's small and light enough I can hold it in the same hand I'm holding the book too and I can comfortably take my notes using my other hand. Also, I made it a tad larger than needed to store A6 cards so I can easily clip on one of those battery powered Led readign lamp when I need more light for reading... The hastily sewed on pocket over the pen holder is there to prevent the lead of my red pencil (I use it to underline passages in some books) of smearing everything when I shove it in my messenger bag.
Cardboard can be very sturdy when used properly but that doesn't mean I'm averse to using more traditional and more sturdy materials like, say, wood, or leather, or even fabric. But sturdier/heavier materials also demand a lot more dedicated tools and a lot more space to work with. Living in our small apartment in an expensive city, space is something that comes at a premium so I'd rather not need too much of it.
Cardboard is also great because it's easy to work with and it's mostly free (when using recycled packaging, at least), and because one doesn't need any specific tools: a decent cutter with some fresh blades, a cutting mat, a steel ruler, some imagination, and maybe also some (hot/white) glue to assemble things together. That's all what one needs.
life?
I mean, I mean it. No matter how shitty things can be (and yeah, they can be) it's still amazing to be alive.