Time to give a new lease of life to old stuffed toys
If you have old or unwanted children’s stuffed toys around the house, reusing or repurposing them can do some good. Check out the loft, old toy boxes and so on.
Why is this an environmental action?
Redeploying anything that is unwanted or unused can help the environment by:
- reducing the amount of materials needed to make the new goods you might have purchased instead
- reducing the associated carbon dioxide emissions and packaging
- reducing the volume of material we send to waste, especially landfill material
Old stuffed toys are no exception, and there are plenty of ways to use them!
Such as?
Here are just a few ideas.
If still in good condition, make sure they are laundered and then:
- gift to a younger family member or a friend’s child
- take to a charity shop
- working with others, put together a toy tombola at the next school fete
- give away on FaceBook marketplace
- give to a children’s charity, hospice or local hospital ward
- reuse as ornamental items to revive cherished memories
- give to grandparents as a memory item
- some rarer toys can be valuable to collectors, check it out on eBay
If in need of TLC:
- turn into a sewing repair project, perhaps working with a child
- remodel two or more toys into a made up monster
- if the right shape, use as a draft excluder at the bottom of your doorway
- would it make a suitable toy for your pet?
- if it’s big enough, turn it into a cat bed
- is it big enough to make into a child’s back pack?
- refill with sawdust and use as a door stop or bookend
Take action
With a little imagination, you can easily reuse an old stuffed toy. If it was a favourite, as well as helping you live more sustainably, you can preserve memory or heritage items and bring a smile to a child’s face.
Simples!
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