Mission Recycling: Barbies

Well, I neglected the blog for another three months, but I suppose that is better than the six month rest I took before that. Here I go again.

I was a spoiled child. I had nearly countless dolls, stuffed animals, My Little Ponies, etc., etc., and of course, Barbies. Because I am also a sentimental packrat, all of my toys are now boxed up and still in my parents’ house. But I finally convinced myself to say goodbye to the Barbies.

The Barbies were really not in good enough shape to donate to a toy drive or anything like that. They were well-loved, and several of them had lost their heads (I’m still not quite sure what to do with the decapitated dolls). I first had to clean them up; I washed all of their clothes and bathed each of the dolls, focusing on controlling their out-of-control hair. I also sorted through their many accessories.

Before:

 

 

 

 

 

After:

Once they were cleaned up, I wanted to find a good home for them. I searched online for women and children’s shelters in my area, and I started to contact them to see if anyone could use the dolls. As it happens, the first shelter I contacted said they would be happy to take them from me.

I took the Barbies, along with all of their clothes and accessories and the Barbie Corvette and Limo, and dropped them off at the shelter downtown. The woman in charge gave me a tour of the new playroom for the kids. I’m so glad that a new generation will enjoy playing with my beloved Barbies.

Now I just need to tackle all the rest of the toys…

What: Well-loved Barbie dolls

Why: Barbies are mostly plastic, so they wouldn’t do well in a landfill. And besides their crazy hair, the dolls were in relatively good condition, and there are a lot of little girls out there who could give them a great new home.

How: I searched for women and children’s shelters in my area and contacted them. The shelter I picked was in the process of creating a new children’s activity center and was actively seeking toy donations.

Cost: None

Mission: Accomplished!

Mission Recycling: Shoes

I have some challenging items in my Mission Recycling pile, so it was nice to get an easy one out of the way.  I’ve actually dropped off shoes for recycling before, so I knew where to go.  Nike has drop-off locations for its Reuse-A-Shoe program at its stores, and there is a Nike store in downtown Seattle.  Unfortunately, there’s not much parking in the area – the first time I went, I had taken the bus into Seattle.  I kept intending to drop my shoes off some time before work, but I could never figure out how to make it work, so my shoes were just waiting in my car.

Then, last weekend I was shopping for new shoes at a Brooks outlet, and there was a shoe recycling box in the front of the store.  I didn’t note what organization the box was for, but I was excited to get rid of my old shoes.  And now I know that there is a drop-off location a lot closer to me – good information for next time.

What: Worn out athletic shoes

Why: The materials in athletic shoes can be broken down and reused for things like sports surfaces (tracks, basketball courts, tennis courts).  The Nike Reuse-A-Shoe Web site has a cool explanation of how the rubber, foam and fabric are separated and ground and turned into the playing surfaces.  Shoes that aren’t that far gone can be passed along to people in need through organizations like Soles 4 Souls and One World Running.

How: Shoes just need to be dropped off at one of the organizations’ drop-off sites.  Check out the Web sites for locations or the directory at RecycledRunners.com (although it doesn’t seem to be a complete resource – I searched my zip code and the two locations where I’ve dropped shoes off before didn’t even show up).

Cost: None

Mission: Accomplished!

Mission Recycling: Foot Molds

No, that’s not moldy feet…that would be both disgusting and difficult to recycle.  These are molds of my feet – one set of plaster and one set of wood – from having orthotics made.  And apparently I’m not the only one out there wondering what can be done with these.  Here’s the deal:

• What: Plaster and wood feet, essentially
• Why: Well, mostly, it just seems silly to throw five pounds of plaster in the trash.  As far as I can tell, plaster (calcium sulfate hemihydrate) itself isn’t really a hazardous substance – although as a powder, it can be a lung irritant – but it does have to be mined and processed, so reusing the plaster would help avoid having to process more.  As for the wood ones, well, I always advocate for recycling wood!
• How: Still not sure on this one.  If I was a whittler, I could carve something neat out of the wood ones…but I’m not.  Apparently, plaster can be heated (see the comments in the Recycle This post for that and other suggestions) or smashed and reused.  But I don’t really have any desire to make anything else out of my plaster.  At my podiatrist appointment, I asked the receptionist if she knew of anything I could do with the molds.  She suggested using them as door stoppers or making art – about the same as any other suggestion I’ve found.
• Cost: None yet
• Mission: In jeopardy…

Mission Recycling

There is this pile of stuff in the corner of my room, next to the trash can.  Stuff that I'm done with, but I can't allow myself to just throw out.  It's stuff that can either be reused or recycled, but it can't just be thrown in the regular recycling bin.  For some of it, I know where it needs to go; I just need to take it there.  For some of it, I need to do a little research to find out where I can take it.

Which brings me to "Mission Recycling."  My plan is to blog about the items, one at a time, and my quest to find a new home for them.

They are:

• ratty pair of tennis shoes
• a bag of CDs and video tapes
• leftover disposable contacts from an old prescription
• a broken straightening iron
• a softball bag with my name and number embroidered on it
• several containers of leftover or expired pills
• a bottle of Nair
• the plaster and wood molds from my orthotics
• several heavy-duty locks (with their keys)
• the wood frame I took off a bulletin board
• an old pair of glasses, two glasses cases, and several sets of lenses

Wow, the list is actually a lot longer than I thought it was going to be.  And I have a feeling that I'm going to make a fool of myself when I, for example, call the foot doctor and ask if they know of a good home for my orthotic molds.  We'll see how it goes...