Don’t Be So Obvious

It’s always great to see family and friends open their gifts at Christmas. To see the excitement on their faces is the best. Wrapping paper, tissue paper, gift bags and boxes everywhere, covering every inch of the floor. Greatest day ever! And then, once the tissue paper has settled it’s clean up time. That part is not so much fun.

What do you usually do with the empty boxes? More specifically the boxes to new TV’s or game systems, big ticket items?  I know… It’s a silly question. You probably put them out with the trash. DUH, right?  What else would you do with them? Build a play house?

Let’s talk for a minute about how the rise in stolen packages off people’s porches was pretty high this season. So with thieves casing houses for packages, they’re probably casing houses for empty TV boxes, surround sound systems and all the cool things you may have gotten for Christmas. They want all those boxes to… BUILD A PLAY HOUSE! Or what makes more sense is that they want to come, break into your home and steal those nice things you got. Now that your gifts are on display in your trash, you have pretty much given them an invitation to break into your home and take them. It doesn’t only have to be during the holidays that thieves are casing neighborhoods, looking for any type of clue that will benefit them the most, it’s all year long.

Instead of placing them out whole, break them down and put them in your recycling bin. Some neighborhoods have a slightly smaller bin to put those in so you may have to cut them down into smaller pieces to fit. If you don’t have one of those large bins or your neighborhood trash collection doesn’t have recycling bins, break them down and take them to a recycling place or cut them down into smaller pieces to put them in your trash bins.

You never know when a burglar is watching your home. I know, that’s a scary thought. Don’t throw the boxes to big ticket items, even a TV mount, out where a burglar can see them. Not just after Christmas but anytime you purchase a big ticket item because you just never know. Burglars don’t discriminate on where they’re looking to steal nice, new expensive stuff. Protect your stuff and be discreet!  

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