Many people just throw these peanuts away, when they could be recycled.
The Styrofoam packing peanuts often used in commercial packages end up in landfills, spending hundreds of years just wasting away. It is now possible to use packing peanuts for multiple purposes, instead of just throwing them away. You can recycle them to help you or others, and help the planet while you're at it. Options include donations, recycling and reusing.
Instructions
1. Place old foam packing peanuts into old pantyhose and tie the end. You can keep them stored in your closet until you need to ship a package, where you can reuse the peanuts in your outgoing mail.
2. Ask the companies that you are getting packages from to stop using the peanuts. Oftentimes, these companies will replace the peanuts with newspaper or another biodegradable material, eliminating the situation.
3. List them on the Freecycle Network, a network devoted to recycling items that other people need. Simply place an advertisement on the website with packaging peanuts, and someone may contact you who is in need of them.
4. Use these peanuts instead of gravel at the base of potted plants for excellent water drainage. They make things much easier for hauling, and it is a great way to reuse the peanuts.
5. Make ice last longer in a cooler by placing peanuts in a plastic baggy and putting them over the ice in the cooler. The ice will not melt as quickly, since the peanuts are excellent insulators.
Tags: packing peanuts, reuse peanuts, these peanuts