5 ways to reuse old shoelaces
In the wake of the excitement from your new kicks, you toss your old ones aside, and they are subsequently chewed on by the dog, kicked around, and then tossed in the trash. Jeez, what did those shoes ever do to you?But wait! While you can definitely recycle your old sneaks, you can do the same for the laces. Simply unlace them from the shoes, give them a bath in hot water and a little bleach (or dish soap, if they're not white), let them dry and then use them in all sorts of ways.
- Use your old shoelaces in the same way you would use string around the house - the possibilities are endless.
- Turn them into cat toys. Either use the laces by themselves, or tie them to a jingly ball or catnip mouse.
- Tie your herbs and tomato plants to stakes so they don't topple over.
- Modify your other shoes! Grab some Rit dye and color the laces to your taste, and then use them to enhance your current kicks, as shown over at Bits and Bobbins.
- Store a spare in a purse or gym bag in case you accidentally break one.
- String washers, bobbins, or miscellaneous beads on the laces so they don't get misplaced.
- Tie them around a few books as you would ribbons on a gift, and use them as a book carrier - no backpack needed!
- Hang them from rafters or ceiling tiles and attach ornaments or paper stars to the bottoms for some added home decoration.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-27-2008 @ 11:41AM
Karsten said...
Here we go again! Tips to reuse the most benign items. Are you kidding? It is like removing antenna balls from the antenna of your car to save gas. Sure it makes a difference, just so little in comparison to what could be done. Yes, if every American reused just one pair of shoe laces, we would save the production of ten-thousands of miles of string. Those numbers do not matter though in the light of the piles of garbage that line up every week at each street in the USA. Americans create close to 4 pounds of trash EVERY DAY and you worry about shoelaces?
The problem is not that we do not reuse enough, the problem is that we buy too much crap and then some of us spend time trying to figure out what to do with it. Most of us HAPPILY consume too many products that do not last long (designed to become obsolete soon, or perceived to be obsolete soon) that polluted the environment when they were made and will be a burden in the future. Too many of us are content with the fact that some of use spend time trying to solve the problem we created. This is not environmentalism, this is making bad habits look better.
When my shoe laces are busted, they are busted. If your laces can still be reused, you did not use them long enough. If you cannot figure out that you should do with a short piece of perfectly fine string, you need to learn a lot before you should be driving a car, own a house, or be responsible for children. Gosh, even 8 year old children used to know what to do with string. In a pinch put it in a box and wait for the time you need string. Why does everything need to have a use right now or be useless and be discarded? One of the reasons there is so much useless stuff to buy is that we INVENT uses for anything and some company will pick up on it and make and sell it. Stop it already! If it is useless or will get useless soon, don't buy it or use it. If it has potential use in the future - keep it in storage until then.
Based on the number of comments that appear at this site lately, I am probably wasting my time with my comment. Just like the article above seems to be a waste of time. Sorry about the strong words. It makes me angry (and frustrated) when people do not think rationally about something so important as the environment while painting themselves as caring and concerned. Removing symptoms won't do.
These are the BASICS and we have to figure this out.
Karsten
http://www.polluteless.com
Practical Advice To Pollute Less
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