RRR: Ways to Reuse Styrofoam

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RRR: Ways to Reuse Styrofoam

Styrofoam is a trademark of the Dow Company but the material itself is called polystyrene. Styrofoam is tough to recycle. So tough, in fact, that when municipalities try, then end up losing their shirts. So you're stuck filling up a garbage bag. Or you could get creative.

1. My number one use for Styrofoam is as the bottom layer in my large planters. You're supposed to put rocks and stones and stuff in for drainage, but Styrofoam works just as well and is way lighter so if I want to move those pots around, I don't break my back. Did I mention that it's free?

2. Large pieces are great for creating stamps for kids. Use a cookie cutter. Cut the shape out. Pour some paint in a tray and let your child stamp away. Make a set for your local kindergarten or daycare centre.

3. Use Styrofoam egg cartons as a seedling starter or to house golf balls. When the kids were small, I used to use them as paint containers. I'd buy my kids' paints in large bottles and then pour a little of each colour into the egg carton wells, leaving a few empty so the kids could mix their own colours.

4. You can also use those cartons to keep craft supplies neat and tidy.

5. Decorate and create a sewing kit for a youn'un leaving home. You can put replacement buttons, pins, needles, thread, snaps, elastic, and a rolled-up measuring tape into each of the wells.

6. Use Styrofoam veggie trays to insulate the inside of a doghouse or other outdoor structure that you want to insulate. (Don't use inside your home because they are highly flammable.)

7. If you're a boater, threading some packing peanuts onto your key chain will ensure it doesn't sink when it falls into the water.

8. Use packing peanuts or Styrofoam blocks that have been broken up to stuff an old pillowcase and you've got a pet bed for Kitty or Poochie.

9. Use as a craft supply. You can make caterpillars, ladybugs and tulips from egg cartons. You can use trays as the backdrops for pictures. (Don't reuse trays that held meat or chicken.) You can stick straight pins loaded with beads into Styrofoam shapes to make ornaments for Valentine's Day and Christmas.

Okay, your turn. What do you do with your Styrofoam?