Columbia Sportswear Company, a global provider in the active outdoor apparel and footwear industries, has announced that its reused box initiative has become very popular among outdoor consumers shopping at its company’s recently launched Web site.

When online shoppers reach checkout at Columbia.com, the Web site gives them the choice of shipping their order in a previously used cardboard box. Since the launch of Columbia’s e-commerce site in August, more than 60% of online customers have selected the used box option.

In addition to choosing a used box for shipping, customers can also track the life of their box as part of a community Web site that Columbia has created called “A Box Life.” On the outside of each reused box, consumers will find an A Box Life sticker that includes a unique QR code (similar to a bar code) and number. Before sending their reused box on its next journey, consumers can visit the A Box Life Web site to enter their box’s unique number or scan the QR code using their mobile phone. Doing so will allow them to see where their box has been, post pictures and stories about their box, and periodically return to the site to follow their box’s journey, helping to illustrate the value that one box can deliver in its lifespan.

“As a leading outdoor company, it is important for us to provide consumers with options that reduce packaging waste and to make business decisions that will reduce our overall environmental impact,” comments Paul Zaengle, senior director of E-commerce for Columbia. “We have been very encouraged by the positive response to our reused box initiative and are thrilled to be able to provide our customers more responsible packaging solutions when they shop online at Columbia.com.”

Additionally, customers are encouraged to post pictures to the A Box Life Flickr group and to tweet about their box’s journey. Consumers can simply add the hash tag #aboxlife to Twitter posts when they have something “box-worthy” to share with the A Box Life community.

Columbia.com ships the remainder of its orders in plastic bags containing 25% post-industrial recycled content and encourages reuse by including instructions on how consumers can use the bag again. Columbia’s move to offer consumers recycled, recyclable, and reusable packaging solutions was developed to foster and support a growing consumer and company desire to reduce their collective environmental footprint.

Watch Columbia’s YouTube video, “Consider the Box.”