Cardboard. Cardboard is a generic term for heavy paper-based products. It is used as an art material in various ways and valued for its versatility, accessibility, and affordability. Artists often utilize cardboard for creating three-dimensional sculptures, models, and installations, as it can be easily cut, folded, and assembled. It serves as a lightweight substrate for paintings or mixed media works, allowing for experimentation with layering and texture. Cardboard can also be used for collage and assemblage, providing a sturdy base for various materials. In art literature, cardboard may also be referred to by other names, such as cardstock, corrugated board, or paperboard, depending on its specific type or thickness. Additionally, terms like fiberboard or boxboard may be used to describe different variations of cardboard materials used in artistic contexts. Overall, cardboard's adaptability makes it a popular choice for both amateur and professional artists. The construction of cardboard can range from a thick paper known as paperboard to corrugated fiberboard which is made of multiple plies of material. Natural cardboards can range from grey to light brown in color, depending on the specific product; dyes, pigments, printing, and coatings are available. The term cardboard has general use in English and French, but the term cardboard is deprecated in commerce and industry as not adequately defining a specific product. Material producers, container manufacturers, packaging engineers,and standards organizations, use more specific terminology. In 2020, the United States hit a record high in its yearly use of one of the most ubiquitous manufactured materials on earth, cardboard. With around 80 percent of all the products sold in the United States being packaged in cardboard, over 120 billion pieces were used that year. In the same year, over 13,000 separate pieces of consumer cardboard packaging were thrown away by American households, combined with all paper products, and this constitutes almost 42 percent of all solid waste generated by the United States annually. In an effort to reduce this environmental impact, many households have started repurposing cardboard boxes for eco-friendly purposes. However, despite the sheer magnitude of paper waste, the vast majority of it is composed of one of the most successful and sustainable packaging materials of modern times-corrugated cardboard, known industrially as corrugated fiberboard. Tubes made of cardboard, which require high rigidity, but low printability Various card stocks Main article: Card stock Various types of cards are available, which may be called cardboard. Included are: thick paper or pasteboard used for business cards, aperture cards, postcards, playing cards, catalog covers, binder's board for bookbinding, scrapbooking, and other uses which require higher durability than regular paper.