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Styrofoam Cooler Recycling Ideas!

Love our products, but are finding yourself with too many coolers?

We are always on the look out for greener ways to ship our foods. Since we send food to all corners of the country, our packages must keep food cold over long distances. We’ve experimented with a variety of other options but have yet to find a better alternative.

With that in mind, we have compiled a short list of recycling ideas for any extra styrofoam coolers you may have:

1) Do you have kids or grandkids? What about using the chest like fake snowblocks and building an igloo playhouse by using glue to attach them together in the right shape.

2) You can use the coolers to store holiday decorations.

3) The Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts in your area might be interested in some of them to use on camping trips as individual lunchbox coolers. Daycares or kindergarten classes might also be interested in them for dramatic play centers, props, etc.

4)You could also use them as forms for hypertufa planters. Hypertufa is just a large word for fake rock looking cement. If you Google it, there are many recipes out there and succulents LOVE to grow in this stuff.

5) Styrofoam coolers make great houses for cats in the cold winter months. See the wonderfully simple idea from ASPCA:

6) Do you enjoy fishing? Coolers can make excellent containers to keep your bait in for fishing. Night crawlers are lively and happy in coolers among some bedding and old leaves. The bedding can also be purchased.  Some people even collect and sell the earthworms that are stored in the coolers.

7) You might contact your local Meals on Wheels and see if they could use them.

8) Make your own shipping pellets to ship some fragile things.

9) Cover the cooler with fabric and use as a stylish and inexpensive storage stool. Great idea for dorm rooms!

10) Some local farmer’s markets and food co-ops are grateful for free coolers to use for their customers and members.

11) Ask a local church if they can use the coolers for taking food to the homebound.

12. Save 1 or 2 coolers so you have something to keep food cold on road trips and vacations.

If none of these suggestions would work, you could Google search for styrofoam recyclers in your area. Unfortunately, the carbon footprint for picking up a single cooler and mailing it to our rural Missouri office usually outweighs any environmental benefit. Still, if this is your best option, you may mail the cooler to our PO Box (postal service) or physical street address (FedEX/UPS) listed below:

US Wellness Meats
PO Box 249 / 18685 316th Avenue
Canton, MO 63435