Posts tagged "rubber"

How can I reuse or recycle an old rubber bath mat?

a rubber bathmatWe’ve had a message from Helen, asking:

I have a rubber bath mat that the kids don’t seem to need any more. It’s (to be frank) a bit manky so I feel I can’t freecycle it. However I don’t want to just chuck it either. Is there a way to recycle something like this?

All suggestions gratefully received!

I’m sure there are tons of ways to reuse them around the home and garden. The first ones that spring to mind take advantage of the fact it’s non-slip – cut circles out of the least manky parts and there you go, non-slip mats for underneath plant pots or the like

Any other ideas?

(Oh, and if you’re wondering about fabric bathmats, we covered them a few months ago.)

Boots made from old tube and bus seats

Boots made from old bus seatsI meant to post this last week but time got away from me (as it has a tendency to do these days).

Anyway, shoe company Above+Below London have launched a new partnership with FirstGroup and London Underground to make Chuck Taylor/Converse style basketball hi-tops – with a cute twist.

The shoes’ uppers are made from iconic bus and tube seat covers – from the garish to the very garish – but with that cool retro feel. (I remember the middle one from my youth on rattling MerseyBuses so they’re not just London designs, or rather not just designs only used in London.)

The rubber soles are incorporate recycled old bus tyres and apparently the trim includes “re-used leather cheque book wallets”.

They’re not cheap – at £80-90 – but are sweat-shop free – made in Portugal – and from “100% salvaged UK waste” — which is a LOT more than can be said for most trainers in that price range…

How can I reuse or recycle old squash balls?

squash ball and racketWe’ve had an email from Simon:

Any ideas on how to recycle squash balls? I play squash 4-5 times a week so end up with loads that are past their best. I’m sure there must be something better I can do than just throw them away? Suggestions I’ve had were to use them in the washing machine (?), in the cistern to save water, cover them in glitter to make xmas decs or make my own lottery / bingo set ….

I think the washing machine thing is like part of the idea behind washing balls (Ecoballs etc) – they bang against the clothes and the friction helps remove the grim and dirt, or something. That’s an awful explanation – sorry. Can anyone explain it better?

The lottery/bingo idea may seem a bit of a joke but if a local school fair or church fete may be able to use a whole stack of them for just that purpose – so it may be worth offering on your local Freecycle group just in case.

Any other suggestions? Am I right in thinking they’re made from rubber – and if so, what are the recycling options? Anyone know?

(Photo by wizard)

How can I reuse or recycle rubber thimbles?

rubber thimbleWe’ve had an email from Sara:

I am in charge of stationery orders at work, and I have recently been asked to order “rubber thimbles” because we have worn them out. So I looked at all these little rubber thimbles, and thought, do these all have to go to waste? Other than being jaunty little hats for stuffed toys around the office, what else can I do with these things?

Everyone has agreed before I order new ones we have to think of something to do with the current ones!

Hehe, I like the jaunty hat idea – I also love that your colleagues have agreed to holding off on reordering new things until the old ones have been dealt with.

Rubber can be recycled but I don’t know if m/any recycling companies would be interested in such small items. Anyone know?

And any other suggestions?

How can I reuse or recycle weather balloons?

weather balloonLucia of JBLarts has sent us a bit of an obscure one:

Such a strange thing, you may say, but I have a good quantity of meteorological lattice balloons: any suggestion on what doing of them, apart fulling them with air to make huge balls to play with in a big garden? Huge snow/lattice-men?

I tried to cut the lattice to use it in some other way, but it was not so easy to maintain the form of the cut pieces.

Any ideas?

I don’t think I’ve ever seen one so I can’t really offer any suggestions. Anyone else got any ideas?

(Oh, and on the subject of balloons: we’ve covered deflated helium ones in the past too.)