Unload those cardboard boxes. Your cat will (probably) forgive you. (Mary Rabbit for Unsplash)
Since pandemic times or so, I’ve had a corner of my kitchen dedicated to “Amazon boxes I am going to reuse or recycle.” Judging from the number of times I see Amazon vans on my Oak Cliff street, I am not alone in this. Well, here’s a local, easy way to utilize those boxes and even get a little something in return if you like.
Orr-Reed Architectural Co., located just outside our neighborhood (less than three miles from Bishop Arts) is eager to take those boxes off our hands.
“Orr-Reed tries really hard to only use recycled materials when mailing out orders to help keep even more things out of landfills, and due to factors such as an increased amount of online orders and all the rain in the recent weeks flooding out our box area, we are running very low on supplies,” owner Hannah Hargrove says.
She won’t turn down large boxes, “but we are really in need of small and medium boxes,” she adds.
The store will even give box droppers some store credit if you’d like.
Amount of credit varies, she says. “For every box/packing materials we are able to give one more life cycle to, you will be awarded $2 store credit.”
Orr-reed.com
And how might one utilize said store credits? In oh so many wonderful ways. Beautiful area rugs, vintage frames, mid-century lamps, antique furniture, marble base mirrors, ornate wall-plug covers, this orange teapot that is definitely about to find a home near the erstwhile cardboard corner in my kitchen, or this William Sonoma glass crystal duck candy dish or a set of four asymmetrical drinking glasses. At this point I am just shopping and should return to work, but you get the idea.
Orr Reed, an atypical salvage shop, also supplies the public with lumber, doors and mantels, hardwood flooring, wrought iron fencing and architectural elements of all types. From the “about us” page:
“Orr-Reed is known to everyone from top designers to household handymen as the place to go for useful and interesting salvaged materials. We love our city and try our best to help preserve its history. From the beginning, the company’s leaders recognized not only the profitability of saving Dallas’ history, but also, more importantly, the social benefits of recycling and preserving the architectural heritage of Dallas.”
In 2018 the Lake Highlands Advocate published a story about Hannah and how she took over the family’s business under traumatic conditions in 2013, when she was just 23.
Visitors can drop off those boxes at the door and shop at 1903 Rock Island Street. Orr-Reed is open 10:30-4 weekdays and 9-2:30 Saturdays. More here.
