Let’s talk this month about reusing and repurposing EPS foam.
If recycling your EPS foam is a challenge, perhaps there are opportunities for reuse/repurpose of the EPS you have.
There are countless ways to reuse & repurpose your EPS foam. I would like to offer my top choices from personal experience as well as research I did on the subject. Some are obvious, and some less so. You may have some ideas of your own that I didn’t consider.
Save that EPS foam cooler that arrived with foods or medications and reuse it for:
· Shipping food to out of town family and friends
· Lunch box
· Picnic cooler
· Camping/vacation cooler
· Insulate chilled and frozen groceries in your vehicle for the trip home from the store
· Insulate chilled and heated dishes for transport to a family gathering
· Composting bin for your garden, when the cooler is large enough. The cooler holds in the heat created by and needed for proper material decay
· It may be a stretch, but reports are that thick-walled EPS coolers have been upholstered to create ottomans
· Use as an incubator for seedlings as planting season approaches for your garden
· Use as an outdoor cat house/shelter
· Plant pot filler. Break large pieces of EPS into smaller pieces to place into your plant pots to help with drainage, aeration and weight reduction prior to toping off with potting soil
· Use as a replacement to perlite in soils. Crush the EPS parts into small pieces and beads to mix in soil for aeration to perform similar to perlite material
· Use for arts and crafts. Carve the foam into any lightweight shape needed for creative arts and crafts projects
· Use EPS foam peanuts or crushed EPS parts as filler or stuffing in various types of projects
These are just a sampling of reuse/repurpose ideas. What ideas do you have to add to the list?
Please watch for next month’s blog where I will continue our conversation with more facts, figures, and good news about EPS foam!
Greg Montgomery
gmontgomery@plastilite.com
Office: 402-884-4290