A new way to recycle your stockings (and other items you should be recycling)

Most stockings are made with a combination of Spandex and Nylon, which can take 30 to 40 years to decompose in a landfill. This durable fabric is great for making stockings, but not great for the environment. Luckily, there are some clever ways to reuse your stockings and help save the earth! We’ve been keeping a running list of ways to re-use and re-purpose your old compression stockings and socks on our website. Here are a few of our favorites:

Super Duper Duster

Old stockings are great for collect dust and pet hair, especially in those hard to reach corners and nooks. (Now you can even get those spots under fridge too!) You can use nylon to scrub sinks and porcelain with scratching it.

Hold Gauze or Bandages In Place

Cut a circular strip from the stocking to keep bandages or gauze secure.

Weave A Rag Rug

Cut your old stockings into strips and weave them together to make a rug! Look on Pinterest or Etsy for inspiration and tutorials.

Let Those Shoes Shine!

Use old pantyhose as a polishing cloth to shine your shoes.

Comfy Handwarmers

Cut your old compression socks up to make soft, comfortable hand warmers. You could also go the other route and cut your socks to use as drink cozies to prevent your hands from freezing.

Make A Cat Toy

Cats have a way of sneaking off with our new clothes or ribbon. Give them your old hosiery to play with and keep them out of real trouble!

Read more of our reusable hosiery ideas, or comment below to share other ways you reuse old hosiery.

Hooked on recycling?

While researching, I actually discovered a lot of innovative recycling programs for items that I had no idea could be recycled (and I’ve admittedly been throwing away myself!). Check out my finds below:

• Wine Corks – ReCork is grinding up corks and reusing them for all kinds of new products. A lot of Whole Foods locations have also added drop off stations for wine corks, so check to see if your local store has one!
• Running Shoes – Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe program grinds down old shoes and turns them into playgrounds
• Cigarette Butts – Collect the ends of your cigarettes and send them off to TerraCycle.
• Greeting Cards – If you’re not keeping the cards you receive for sentimental purposes, you should be sending them to St. Judes.
• Broken Holiday Lights – Lights not turning on? Send them Christmas Light Source and they’ll send you a coupon for your next purchase.
• Nespresso Capsules – Don’t throw out your daily source of caffeine! Check the Nespresso website to find a drop-off point for your capsules.
• Toner & Printer Cartridges – Check with the printer manufacturer. HP and Brother will both pay for the shipping on returns to their company. Staples will also take back most printer and toner cartridges.