Whilst shredded paper won’t be in short supply en France, I am wondering if we will still be able to get recycled cardboard boxes to post out our pieces?
Maybe someone can tell me a source for these ?
And perhaps a bench like my ideal one here. I have only been looking for a decade, so maybe it will go on Trev’s list. Don’t tell him
Blog-sur-Aude 
Hi, I have an antique bench that looks similar to the picture you posted. I was just checking Google to see if I could find some info and approx. age of it. If you want to see pictures and possibly give me some info about it, I would greatly appreciate it. I am looking to eventually sell it.
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Hi Karen,
I would love to find out more about my bench but I am not an antique expert.
I think mine might be Moroccan/Tunisian or Indian. If you find out anything I would love to know. And I’d love to see a photo of yours!
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You know you can have all of mine. I’ve already got a stash of them for you
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You are a star x
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I know that recycling faces an uphill battle in Aude; there was a dechetterie near Lavelanet which was closed. There is a website that lists them by department; here’s the one for l’Aude:
http://decheteries.fr/11/
Corrugate as a commodity is often recycled and sent (back) to China since they use so much. The problem is after they process the paper fibers they don’t make cartons as sturdy as the 1st world countries make, so they lack the same strength.
You might consider approaching places that sell household appliances (fridges, etc) for larger boxes which you can cut down. They’ll probably be three and four walled, as opposed to most which are at best two-walled.
I tried looking at the Aude government site but couldn’t find something dealing with that specifically.
There are two resources which I may have mentioned before, if not, sorry.
First is http://www.audeflyer.com It’s in English, written by an expat and directed toward expats and their friends, visitors and whoever else comes across it. They send out an email and it has a great listing of farmers markets and vide-greniers/brocantes for l’Aude and l’Ariege.
When I used to visit the area I was always on the look out for local events or local services and of all the expat forums, I found AngloInfo the best. Here’s their link: https://www.angloinfo.com/languedoc
I’m a forum member on Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree and when someone posts with an odd-ball question about ‘where can I get this in such and such a place’ (a German brand of baby food someplace other than Western Europe). Sometimes it will be an ad or a post on the local forum but
I am half amazed and half not surprised that I do find odd things where google failed. There are many (too many) expat forums; most just want to sell you property or the like.
Now my third suggestion is to go to the office of the maire and ask there. They should have some information and since you’d be sending unwanted corrugate from France (less waste there!) and you are adding to the tax base (oh la la!), if they don’t know, they may be able to tell you who does.
I have used corrugate for a number of purposes besides shipping things.
I used glue to put the pieces together, it makes everything much sturdier. While I do like the brown packing tape they sell in France, for real stability, glue is the answer. If you have two lightweight pieces, reinforce them by gluing one at a 90 degree angle to the first. Corrugate bends with the channels so =|| is stronger. Buy a large cheap container of white glue and paint it on. You can cut small strips and glue them inside a box to provide inner reinforcement as well as separate items so they don’t shift. Focus on getting larger pieces and flatten them out to be ‘rebuilt’ rather than trying to find specific boxes. If you have single layer corrugate, roll it up to make reinforcements for corners of boxes (think paper pillars). Of course if you come across used cardboard tubes, they’re good for that as well.
*I just happened to think that maybe there’s EU regulations which are designed to reduce waste so corrugate containers aren’t as sturdy as they used to be (or are elsewhere. Not anti-Eu, just thinking. But you can get around it with white glue. Perhaps the Brexiteers should be wrapped in corrugate, slathered with white glue and sent of someplace else. I’d like to do it with Cheetos-boy.
Hope there’s a few useful tips within the deluge of words. Good luck with getting on with the move.
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Thanks, that’s useful I particularly applaud the Brexiteers suggestion.
I will try our shop and the local markets
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Do not know about the boxes but I have seen benches like the one in your picture at brocantes in the area
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Me too Chris, but our budget does not stretch to the ones I’ve seen!
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I have a pew…. you can’t have it! Go to your local epicerie (ours is Utile in Champs and Proxi in Marcoles) and ask them- they are generally happy to give away boxes ☺
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You will have to fight Bev for the pew!
I was hoping to find boxes made of recycled cardboard
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I’ll speak to Sophie … she’s an eco warrour (French) and bound to know. Don’t need to fight for the pew- I have one which belonged to my granny
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I find pews are often uncomfortable, obviously to focus one’s mind on to a higher plane when seated on them.
I’m thinking more deep and capacious bench with much padding
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Very nice … sumptuous and contemplative ☺
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As we can’t fit a sofa in this kitchen, a comfy bench for company whilst cooking is critical
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We are looking for a bench too for our hallway, Phil is adamant he wants a pew 🙂
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I will look out for one!
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What do you mean by recycled boxes? Boxes that have been used for something else, or new boxes made of recycled cardboard?
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Either, though boxes previously used are sometimes weaker, sadly. We use both options
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Will keep my eyes peeled
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