13 Recyclables No One Actually Wants to Reuse

Going green is great and all, but who would want your old bras?
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 24, 2010 10:00 AM CDT
Going Green: 13 Recyclables No One Wants to Reuse
In this photo released by Newsmakers PR a part of a set of dentures used by the wartime British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is seen, Thursday July 29, 2010.   (AP Photo/Newsmakers)

It seems like everyone wants to go green these days—but there are some recyclables that just don’t seem like they should be reused. Brittny Drye lists 13 on The Stir:

  • Bras: You might not want to wear someone else’s stretched-out bra, but The Bra Recyclers will donate yours to needy women worldwide.
  • Dentures: Thankfully, no one actually wears your recycled dentures—but one nonprofit will recycle the $25 worth of precious metals found in each set, and donate the proceeds to UNICEF.

  • Gym shoes: Nike will take these smelly old things, and turn them into athletic surfaces from basketball courts to running tracks.
  • Sex toys: Yes, this exists: A company will take your used sex novelty, sterilize it, grind it up, and make it into a new sex toy.
  • Packing peanuts: What to do with these pesky things? You can actually donate them to be turned into anything from cameras to coat hangers.
For more—including what to do with your old mattress or, ew, diapers—click here. (More recycling stories.)

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