When talking about shipping boxes, there are many different kinds of boxes.  If you are a shipping company, whether that is a small eCommerce business or a big company, you will have the need for a kind of box for shipping. The few types we are going to look at are cardboard boxes, wooden boxes, and plastic boxes. Each of these kinds of packages has its own benefits and downfalls, which we are going to take a look at. The common standard for shipping containers is a cardboard box. If you are a company that deals in large equipment or heavy machinery, then you may be familiar with wooden boxes as these provide better support for those big parts compared to a cardboard box. 

Cardboard boxes are the gold standard when it comes to shipping items, and rightfully so. These boxes are made from paper which is a relatively cheap material to produce, although it does hurt the environment. These boxes can easily be mass produced due to their low cost of making. Cardboard boxes have a significant effect that allows for them to repel water before soaking it in. This is good as it will ensure the product inside is free of damage when it arrives at the customer’s desired location. Cardboard boxes are also quite sturdy. This allows for any kind of product to be placed inside of it unless it is very heavy; then it is recommended and more safe to go with a wooden box. 

Speaking of wooden boxes, these are an excellent and effective method of transportation. These boxes are generally made around the product being shipped. The good thing about these boxes is that they are very sturdy and can house almost anything. Also, because they are so sturdy, they can be easily stacked on top of each other, which will reduce in the space they take up, thus making them more easy to store. Most of the time, these boxes are used to ship large items like machinery. Wood is an easy material to access, but it hurts the environment more than the production of cardboard because it requires wood and not sheeted wood that makes paper.  

The final box for shipping is plastic boxes. These boxes are not seen as often because of their high price. These boxes also require fossil fuels to make like crude oil, and that drastically hurts the environment as it is slowly reducing the number of fossil fuels available. These boxes are pretty sturdy, much like wooden boxes but not to that level. The good part about these boxes is that they can be reused as much as possible until they get a break in them. A break in the box would require it to be retired or melted down to make a new one as it has lost its structural integrity. 

In my opinion, cardboard boxes are the best when it comes to shipping boxes. I say this because not only have they been used for a very long time but they are the most cheap to make. Not only are they the most inexpensive to make they also do not hurt the environment as much as the previously mentioned ones. The good thing about all of these boxes is that they can be made from recycled materials, which has less of an impact on the environment.