Photo courtesy of STL Rent A Box
Stacy Isermann hefts one of her industrial strength rental boxes.
When Stacy Isermann noticed dumpsters over-run with cardboard boxes thrown aside after moves, she wondered: Is there a better way? So she and her husband Todd Isermann started to look around. They found that many cities around the world offer rentable boxes to make moving more eco-friendly. But St. Louis had nothing like it.
So the Isermanns brought the idea home, and STL Rent A Box was born.
“There’s people moving all year round in St. Louis, companies as well as residents,” says Stacy Isermann. “We wanted to serve that area because the environment, being green, and recycling is important to us.”
Rent a Box combines environmental concerns with convenience. Isermann says their service is great for families or individuals moving to a new house or apartment, but also for businesses that need to minimize the amount of time they have to close down while they move offices. The Isermanns or someone from their staff will bring boxes directly to you, complete with reusable and recyclable packing material. There’s no need to fold and tape cardboard.
And, for the environmentally conscious, Isermann notes, “You can have a zero-waste move.”
What if you just want to buy your own plastic boxes? It’s a question they often hear. The answer is, “they can do that,” says Isermann, but STL Rent A Box does have some advantages.
For starters, it’s cheaper to rent than to buy. “We want this to be not a luxury service,” Isermann says. “We want it to work with anyone’s move on any budget.” If you buy more boxes, you get more rental time, free of charge. And, when you’re done, you don’t have to find a place to store 75 boxes.
In addition, Isermann says, their boxes are simply better: the industrial-strength plastic holds up to 100 pounds, reinforced lids won’t bend, the boxes stack perfectly without warping, and corners and handles won’t crack either. “They’re not something you can walk in a store and buy,” she adds.
These boxes are so sturdy, STL Rent a Box has completed more than 1,000 moves during their five years in business—and not yet trashed a single box. When that time comes, though, the materials are green and recyclable.
“The movement of living 'green' is not a trend,” Isermann says. “It is a way of life.”
