7 News in Denver reports that a Colorado man has been officially warned that reusing a United States Postal Service “Priority Mail” cardboard box is a violation of federal law. We’re not even talking about mail fraud but simply reusing them for other types of shipping. Could reusing these boxes actually be a federal crime? Find out more about this outlaw…

Like many others, Gary Adler reuses these boxes after receiving them or sometimes just finds them near the dumpster. Typically, he turns the box inside out to so that it’s brown on the outside, then uses the box as a normal shipping box. However, the postal service says this is against postal regulations and if he does it again he could be charged with misuse of postal property. Nicole Reiter of the USPS said, “Our Priority Mail and Express Mail boxes are, bottom line, supposed to be used for that service. That is what they are intended for.” She also claims this regulation is actually helping the customer, “enforcing the no-recycling rule would keep postal rates low for everyone.”

We believe that a box is a box and if it’s clearly marked then why should it matter if it’s an “ex” priority mail box? Given the unholy volume of junk mail with which the USPS turns a profit, it’s no wonder that the postal service shows so little concern for the environment.

Reusing Cardboard Postal Boxes Illegal [7 News] (Thanks to James for sending this in!)
(Photo: 7 News)

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