How can I reuse or recycle tissue boxes?

Tissue boxWe’ve had an email from Karen, asking:

What can I do with old tissue boxes? The ones I get have a plastic layer on the inside of the top so make it easier to pull single tissues out. I realise that if I tear that out I can just recycle them with my card but is there anything I can do with it otherwise?

The greenest solution is usually to use hankies or equivalent re-usable clothes instead of tissues but that’s not always possible.

I buy big boxes of tissues and decant them into old smaller boxes for different rooms around the house so if the plastic-ked ones are quite small, you could do that.

Any other suggestions? What about for the box in general?

(Photo by scol22)

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20 Responses to “How can I reuse or recycle tissue boxes?”


  1. Jeff says:

    Place on your dresser to collect loose change

    Place a larger one in your kitchen to collect plastic bags-makes a great dispenser

  2. heartinacircle says:

    i rip the plastic off and use them as mini trash cans. as long as you don’t put wet things in there, it’ll last a long time. plus, you don’t have to line it with a bag, which cuts down on waste as well. if you use it in conjunction with the change-collection idea, you could have a really fancy pants-pocket dumping station going.

  3. Sue says:

    Makes a great car trash can. The square ones with the plastic slit inside oval work well because it can roll around on the floor and not spill it’s contents. Throw the whole thing out when it’s full.

  4. Recycleholic says:

    I remove the plastic and give them to my 1 1/2 year old daughter to play with. She loves putting toys in there.

  5. Delusion says:

    I have a mass of pencil crayons without boxes so they all go in my old tissue box. Large hole means easy to get them out and keeps them safe :)

  6. trisha says:

    I use mine for all sorts of things. I place my scrapbook embellishments in them, I also store string and cord in them like a string dispenser. I use them for my seedlings then plant the whole box. I am also collecting some for my kids as large lego. so they can build cubby houses and forts out of the tissue box bricks.

  7. Jess says:

    I take the smaller, tall, square-ish ones, and a roll of recycled toilet paper, then cut out the cardboard roll, open up the seam of the box, and stick the roll inside and pull the toilet paper through the middle and out of the hole, then seal the box back up! It can be re-used over and over, plus recycled paper tissue is expensive, so it saves a bunch of money!

  8. kaylyn says:

    i use the cardboard to make smaller gift boxes when birthdays or holidays roll around. with a little bit of glue and paint or what have you the results are quite often very cute.
    i’ve also found that people usually really, really appreciate the little extra effort in making the gift container by hand… especially if the gift itself is on the smaller side.

  9. carrie says:

    cut the top off and use for filing recipes, greeting cards, etc

  10. sara says:

    you can put rubber bands around it and glue a paper towel roll to one end and have a tissue box guitar!

  11. claire says:

    When I was keeping hedgehogs they really enjoyed sleeping in discarded tissue boxes.

  12. Anonymous says:

    donate them to a school to use for arts and crafts. we make buses and cars and guitars and all kinds of other thinsg out of cardboard!

  13. J says:

    I keep my tea light candles in them.

  14. person from ireland says:

    i used it to make a golf practice thing look

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgA0AYsZPN8&feature=related

  15. In the 1960s, Scotties used to make cubical tissue boxes that opened at the top and front. I kept several of these and used them for such things as cotton wads and memo paper. I wish these were still made.

    I have been saving tissue boxes for years — especially those with attractive or unusual designs. I flatten them out and keep them in a large carton. In the past I have cut out small parts of tissue boxes to use in collage, but mostly I just keep them because they’re pretty. What I really need is a way to store the flattened boxes so that I can look through the collection. I need a sort of album. Write to me if you have ideas about this.

  16. Anonymous says:

    I came on here to see what i could do with a tissue box and not one of these ideas are good

  17. Anonymous says:

    Cut off the back of it and wrap it in wrapping paper take off the plastice and glue it to the top and store you little special idioms in their

  18. Galina says:

    I like to knit and crochet and I use these boxes for my yarn – very convenient

  19. Kitten says:

    I think you could make a guess what is inside the box



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