What To Do With Subscription Box Items You Won’t Use

Here is a charity that puts together tote bags for parents with children in the hospitals for an extended period of time. The woman that runs it lost her daughter in June and that’s the namesake of the organization. They are always looking for donations of special things to include. The mothers and fathers are going through some pretty traumatic things and little things we don’t want or need can brighten their day. And things from the various children’s sub boxes are great to include for the children or siblings. Here is the link for the website. http://www.fionashope.com/

i have a friend who tutors at a homeless shelter. The “residents” love the little items to make them feel pampered. At little really does mean a lot

For the Texas readers,

I started a charity called The Gift of Joy Project — our mission is to provide the gift of joy to women in local shelters, transitional housing, and maternity homes at Christmas time in the form of a shoebox filled with small luxury items. Through this small gift, we hope to bring a smile to the face of a woman facing a difficult situation, and remind her that she is not forgotten by her community.

The contents of these boxes are almost identical to what you would receive in a typical subscription box! Check out our website, giftofjoyproject.org, to learn more and if you’re interested in donating, blogging about us, or getting involved in any way, email [email protected].

xx Kaylee

I subscribe to a lot of snack boxes (I’m a new mom, it’s how I manage to eat “healthy”!) and things that don’t fit into my diet I send off to Soldiers overseas! As a veteran and spouse I know how special those care packages can be! There are lots of items that would make great care package items, especially now around the holidays when they are missing their families the most (or those that don’t have family to send them boxes). Some great items that would be appreciated are:
Snacks (sweet or savory)
Picture frames
Lip balm
Sunscreen
Toiletries
Books
Nail polish (girls can put them on their toenails)
DVDs
Stationery and cards

If you ask on Facebook you will probably find that someone has a friend or family member deployed that would love a box from home! 🙂

Dress for Success accepts some products ! http://www.dressforsuccess.org/supportdfs_donate_product.aspx

I have also gotten rid of subscription box goodies i dont want on ebay !

or like you said, gifting it .

Or doing a blog giveaway with a mix of products!

A great follow up to this post would be “what do you do with all your actual boxes”? I wonder this a lot. 🙂

I am a make up artist for our Regional Theater, and I use my unwanted items for the cast. This hot pink lipstick that glowed was perfect for the little pigs in Shrek. For sanitary reasons, black liners, mascaras, and balm are so welcome. Please consider donating to local theater or dance group. Thank you, Luz for all you do. You must have a ginormous stash.

Around any holiday, halloween, st patricks day, thanksgiving, christmas, I make goody bags, in the goody bags I normally put a food item, and a few items from my sub boxes, put the items in a fancy bag, and give them to receptionsts in dr’s offices, people in places i go to often like coffee shops. They appreciate the small gift bag, remember it, and I normally get treated more like a friend the next time I see them.

What do you do with all of the subscription boxes themselves? Do they all get thrown away or have your found some creative uses over the years?

The only thing to be careful of with donations to cancer patients is that the items must absolutely NOT be used in any way (including swatched). Cancer patients have compromised immune systems. If you are going to go that route, it’s best to stick with items that are still safety-sealed.

Lots of good ideas! I’m very new to this but already have enough spare high-end lip balms and glosses to give one to all the ladies on my “small gift” list. I might not be able to give them the same type of thing every year, but I think they’ll be thrilled this year.

Hi Liz!
I am currently on the swap waiting list. How long does it usually take to get in?