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12 Creative Uses Of Packing Peanuts
These ideas are so neat!
D.G. Sciortino
06.29.17

Since styrofoam isn’t what we call “eco-friendly” you tend to see less and less of it used. Often your packages will come cushioned in air-filled pouches as opposed to those petroleum-based polystyrene packing peanuts, which can take hundreds of years to breakdown in a landfill.

But once in a while, you’ll get a box filled with packing peanuts.

If you feel guilty tossing them into the trash, there are ways you can reuse them. Here are some of those ways.

Bring Your Beanbag Chair Back to Life

If your beanbag chair is a little deflated you can use foam packing peanut to fill it up again.

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Housing a Forest
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Housing a Forest

Potted Plant Drainage

Place foam peanuts at the bottom of your potted plants for some lightweight drainage.

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Home Caprice
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Home Caprice

Fix a Screw

If you drilled a hole that is too large for your screw, push your screw into a peanut and screw it into your hole. Just pull away the excess foam.

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Nancy Andrews
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Nancy Andrews

Safeguard Tools

Place foam packing peanuts on the tips of sharp tools so you don’t get injured while rummaging for them in your tool box.

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Tips Snips
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Tips Snips

Give Short Flowers a Boost

If you have flowers that are too short for a vase, you can add some peanuts to the bottom of the vase to give them height.

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Nancy Andrews
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Nancy Andrews

Use as Insulation

Place your foam peanuts in a sealed plastic bag and put them on top of the ice in your ice chest to insulate the ice.

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storemeister
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storemeister

Use As a Paintbrush

You can use a peanut as a foam brush to paint glue and other adhesives.

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Kids Activites
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Kids Activites

Use Them As Spacers and Buffers

You can cut a foam peanut in half and glue it to the back of a hanging mirror or picture frame to protect the wall from scratches.

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YouTube Screenshot
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YouTube Screenshot

Keep a Nail in Place

Press a nail into a packing peanut and hold the peanut in place as you tap the nail in. This will help you steady your nail. You can pull the foam away when the nail is halfway in.

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Tech Crunch
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Tech Crunch

Fill a Ditch

Packing peanuts work great to fill in a ditch where you’re laying a pipe. Line your ditch with landscape fabric and a layer of packing peanuts before you lay your pipe in.

Wrap the fabric over the top and backfill your trench, this will allow the water to percolate into your soil while it drains.

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The Logs' End
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The Logs' End

Arts, Crafts, and Fun

You can build a cute snowman or use foam peanuts during arts and crafts time. You can also find some games and other activities that use foam peanuts here.

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Give Them Back

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GREENDAN.org
Source:
GREENDAN.org

Donate your packing peanuts to a business that will use them like FedEx.

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