Comments on: How can I reuse or recycle in-ear headphones?

By: Sara

Sara — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:54:57 +0000

Well i didn’t try this, I was just thinking. But you could probably braid the separate wires together, and leave the earbuds hanging or tie them in a bow and make a bracelet(:

By: Christine

Christine — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 19:52:09 +0000

Wow….. Thank you so much! I am going to make magnets for people!

By: Andrea

Andrea — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 18:48:04 +0000

well, if you are good at handi crafts, you could make some sort of geekery jewelry out of them. I made a ring out of one I had in my house. I am selling it in my Etsy Shop:

Upcycled Ipod Earphone Ring
http://www.etsy.com/listing/50234895/upcycled-ipod-earphone-ring

just something to give you an idea. Great blog post. I bookmarked.

By: shadhe

shadhe — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:52:52 +0000

I always use mine (and i go through tons) As awesome and resistent string for pendants and beads, you can make tight little knots to hold beads in place and it’s really awesome and easy to use.
For the earpieces themselves, i haven’t come up with anything other than re-fashioning them into weird industrial ear-rings, but that might be a bit off your mark.
The jack itself is awesome if you also have the female part to use as connectors, keychains, bracelets, anything that needs clasping. Looks cool.

By: Lizzy

Lizzy — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:36:12 +0000

they’d make pretty cool toggle buttons on recycled DIY fashion items :)

By: Lizzy

Lizzy — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:00:47 +0000

strip it to pieces and see what you’re left with:
wire: loads of uses (jewellery, craft, and even more practical uses like fixing other things)

plastic coating: if it’s still in one piece you could use it as garden twine

earphones: if they have bits of sponge on them those parts could be used for cleaning in small places there’s also a magnet in there which you could use- maybe some magnetic earrings made with some of the copper wire and the magnet ?

not sure about the rest- i’ve never taken earphones to bits – but when some break i certainly will =D . you could make junk jewellery i guess. you can use the bit you plug in as an instant mute when you quickly want to turn the sound off a computer or radio (for whatever secrecy reason (???)) , just have it half plugged in the socket and push it in the whole way.

hope this helps

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:37:29 +0000

You could strip the plastic off of the headphones and recycle that. Thenyou would have the inside wire and that could be recycled too. The plastic part that covers the inner speaker is recyclable. Just take it apart and throw it in the recycling bin. They wont really care.

By: Gulia

Gulia — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:29:12 +0000

Wash the foam, disinfect parts with rubbing alcohol and make a toy for a child to play doctor.

By: janaltus

janaltus — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 02:17:30 +0000

I’ve got through so many (they would only last a few weeks) but I have now discovered how to reduce breakages. I reinforced my latest set with epoxy resin glue – at the weakest point – where the wires go into the earphones. They’ve lasted for about six months now – which, for me, is a record! I’ve now done the same for my headphones (as a “just-in-case”).

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 01:01:06 +0000

I had an expensive pair of headphones once that developed a break in one of the wires. I took a wire from a broken pair of these in-ear kind and used it to replace the broken part. A little electrical tape and I was good to go!

By: fishcake_random

fishcake_random — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 20:16:05 +0000

Use the wire as cordage/string in the garden as it should last quite well being plasic covered. Use the foam ear covers as slippers for a barbie doll or make some earmuffs for a dolly instead.

By: Canadian girl

Canadian girl — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 06:28:32 +0000

I have a pair of in ear JVC headphones, for which I lost the in-ear part. I emailed JVC through their website, and within the week I’ve gotten a new set of free covers. I really liked the headphones, and that’s why I tried (besides, this pair is sorta expensive).

Alternatively, give the wires to the local high school electronics club? I remember ours had a huge box’o'wires for various purposes. I’m sure they’d find a use for the small speakers too.

By: CMoney

CMoney — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 01:09:07 +0000

I always use extra cables, cords, etc that have shorts or are worn to tie other cords with… keeping them neat. Use that 3+ feet of light cord as string or take a few of them and braid them together to make a nice short, handy rope.

By: Jbright

Jbright — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 21:29:13 +0000

Strip the plastic from the wire and you are left with just copper witch can recycled as scrap metal. I don’t know about the ear buds they should have a small magnet inside that could be fun to play with.

By: Cadan ap Tomos

Cadan ap Tomos — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 19:20:01 +0000

Louisa, could you post an item for the out of ears ones? Its just my school library has a load of earphones that have been wrecked due to mis-use and generally been used to much. We have around four pairs… And why havent you answered my e-mails yet?

By: BibiMac

BibiMac — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 21:00:18 +0000

again its an avoid thing but i prefer out of ear ones

theyre stronger so last longer

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 17:04:05 +0000

Might be better to reduce rather than reuse in this case.

The cables are so thin they can break anywhere, but if it was at the end you could perhaps make an audio extension cable. Alternatively combine a bunch and use as speaker cable. But think reducing is the best option here.

Perhaps convince your friends to get some longer lasting / better quality ones. Therefore still preventing landfill which is the aim.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 11:53:59 +0000

I’m not sure they can be recycled unless people want to use the connector and cable to make a new cable for something. It might be possible to replace the cable if it gets damaged, but would be difficult to make a tidy join to the earphones as they will not be easy to open up.

It seems these items have become disposable. I’ve seen them sold for under a pound.

It would be better if you could buy MP3 players etc without the headphones so you had the option to re-use those you already have. The included ones are usually pretty bad anyway.