We got some computer hardware bits delivered a few weeks ago and the box was filled out with those inflated cushion things.

When we’ve had them in the past, I’ve always thought “I wonder how I can recycle th- oh, they’re compostable corn starch type plastic. Great!” but this current load is regular plastic so won’t be ending up in my compost heap. They’re still better than polystyrene beads or other old school packaging though.

The plastic seems to be the same as supermarket carrier bags so I suspect they can be recycled in the same places as those.

But what about reuses? They seem to be holding their inflatableness quite well so I think one lot will be used as a bath pillow. Other suggestions?

(Apologies for the bad photo – it turns out it’s quite difficult to photograph things that are clear… If you’ve not familiar with them, they’re essentially inflated plastic bags. The ones we have are about 5x15cm (2x6inches) each and are in rows of 3 or 4 joined along the long edge.)

We’ve had an email from Joanna, asking:

My (soft) X-box dance mat is slightly broken – I think the connection from one of the pads is busted. Any ideas how I can reuse or recycle it?

I’ve only ever seen the solid ones so I don’t know how thick/malleable the soft ones are but if it’s reasonably thin and not as wrinkled like the one in the picture, it might make a cool “rug” for a dance fan’s bedroom or could be used as a fun surface protector on a desk. Anyone with more knowledge of them got any better ideas?

I’d also be interested in hearing if anyone has any suggestions for the solid ones too – I suspect that there will be a lot dumped on the scrap heap (literally) when either the dancer goes off the game or when the console is upgraded and the new pad doesn’t work with the old machine (like happens with joysticks and game pads). Any suggestions?

(Photo by PiaCarrot)

We’ve had another email from our good suggesting friend, [Am]/Delusion:

Me again, I have just managed to find a company that will recycle floppy discs (as well as shred the confidential information) however now that the mass of floppies have gone I am left with several different shaped floppy disk boxes.

Any suggestions on what I could do with them?

I’ve attached a photo of three different styles of boxes i have!

We’ve got a couple of these lying around too and I’ve got one of those divider ones earmarked for that long, long, long awaited day that I get organised – I thought I could use it for recipe cards.

Any other suggestions?

We’ve had an email from Renee, who left just about a billion re-use suggestions around the site a couple of weeks ago (thanks Renee!):

How can I reuse Styrofoam cuts/containers and things? I don’t buy anything that comes with this junk but find it by the road and on the beach all of the time. I’d like to re-use it in some useful way.

I’m presuming that Renee means the stuff like type of “clam-shell” styrofoam containers that most major chain fast-food restaurants stopped using a few years ago (…I think – correct me if I’m wrong) but which are still used by a lot of independent take-out food places.

While researching this post, I found there is a lot of more eco-friendly starch/sugar-based clam-shell packaging around these days – but based on my experiences with take-out places around here at least, the nasty plastic stuff is still pretty common. So any re-use ideas?

(On a related subject, we’ve already covered flat-ish meat/veg trays & shaped fruit ones that are usually made of styrofoam or something similar, and other foam-like packing materials.)

(Photo by, coincidentally, another Renee, Renee Comet)

We’ve had an email from Jane, asking:

I just wondered if you are aware of how to recycle Tyvek overalls?

My first question when I received this was “what are Tyvek overalls?” and Wikipedia informs me that Tyvek is the brand name for those “disposable” overalls that look like they’re made out of tough paper but are in fact made out of high-density polyethylene fibres (apparently).

Wikipedia also informs me that DuPont, who makes Tyvek, there is a programme in place for reusing them in the US (according to the Tyvek FAQ, “non-contaminated garments used in cleanroom operations can be recycled for non-hazardous applications. Contact DuPont Protective Apparel Customer Service for additional information”) and I have emailed to see what they offer and where they offer it. (I’ll update when I get a response.)

I also asked them about other green disposal suggestions – their FAQ says the preferred method of disposal is landfill (!) but they can be incinerated (!!) – so we’ll see if anything comes of that. But in the meantime/in addition, does anyone else have any other ideas?

(Photo by Jsjacob)