The Cardboard Boxes     The cardboard box was invented by Robert Gair in 1890. Since then, it has been primarily used for packaging goods and for carrying objects. The size of cardboard boxes can greatly vary, the biggest being 40 by 20 meters (131 by 66 feet).     Cardboard boxes are primarily constructed of recycled paper, which is paper that comes from pulp wood which is when wood chips are made into paper. Therefore, to make cardboard, you take a tree’s wood chips and make paper out of it that you put in between two liners. Cardboard is now almost always made of recycled materials including, but limited to, cardboard and paper.     Cardboard is made up of a renewable material which are trees. Most of the time, cardboard is recycled, but even if it is still put in landfills, it takes up very little space and is very biodegradable. But the biggest issue of cardboard is that if it is thrown away and put in landfills, the chemical that is used for the glue to make the paper breaks down and can contaminate groundwater. Another problem that can occur is that paper takes a lot of water to make, and bleach can be used, but rarely in cardboard, and that may cause air pollution.     To construct recycled cardboard, it costs $10 per ton of basic materials which include pulp paper and glue. To buy cardboard, it is usually $1-2 on the lower end, and $4-5 on the higher end of cardboard. At The Home Depot, it costs 88 cents for a 16x12x12 inch box, and $1.68 for an 18x18x24 inch box.     At the end of its life, cardboard is almost always recycled to make new cardboard. If it is thrown away, it takes only within the span of 3 months for it to decompose. In fact, several studies show that cardboard has less toxic materials than grass.     A very similar product to cardboard is paper. Paper is made of the same materials as cardboard, and impacts the environment and decomposes around the same time as cardboard. The only way it isn’t identical is in the use of it and the costs. Paper is mainly used for writing and drawing on, while cardboard is mainly for holding items. CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD CARDBOARD