I get a slight buzz every week while I’m working in my home office (hello to all your Work From Home aficionados out there) and I hear the rumble of the recycling truck slowly make its way up the street. I like it because I know that by taking the time to separate my items, and not just lazily throw them in the bin, I’m doing the least I can to be more environmentally friendly.

Now, you may have read or watched the news this last week that Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé have been labelled as the worst offenders for causing plastic waste with no clear strategy in sight. While the big companies are slow to embrace any positive change, some small brands are looking at those odds every week and coming up with some truly unique ways to recycle plastic and give it a new lease of life. 

Want to know how? Here are some of the amazing ways businesses recycle plastic for everyday use, from your underwear to toothbrushes. 

Recycled Plastic Toothbrushes

If you turned round to someone you knew and told them they were throwing away a chunk of plastic from their bathroom every three months, they would be right to give you a completely bemused look. But that’s pretty much what we all do every few months when getting a new toothbrush (if you’re someone reading this who has just realised you’re only supposed to use toothbrushes for three months, get a new one right now).

It is quite odd to me that toothbrushes are more readily made from disposable materials. You can get bamboo toothbrushes, but they also seem to be more expensive on the whole, which isn’t great when buying for a family. Thankfully, the shift in people buying recycled toothbrushes has caught the bigger businesses attention who don’t like their share of the market being taken away. Just this year, Unilever brought out the Signal Ecolo Clean brush in France. It is made from 100% recycled plastic and can be recycled again and again. I’m hoping to see more of these on store shelves from other brands in the near future.

Underwear

Would you ever wear a plaster bottle as briefs? (No sniggering please). Well, it’s what one plucky Scottish underwear brand is trying to do. The cheekily named Bawbags realised that when people are usually finished with their underwear, it goes straight in the bin, so why not try and make the product from more sustainable sources?

Enter their range of boxers and briefs made from recycled plastic bottles. Using the latest recycling technology, the plastic is recycled in such a way that it acts like thread and can be used to make clothing. You’ll be surprised that they don’t look any different from your lucky pair of underwear (and they look quite funky too). Check out their underwear at https://bawbags.com. 

Yoga Mats

Namaste to all my workout from home friends who have swapped the gym for precious inches in the living room where they can just barely fit a yoga mat. Traditionally made from vinyl or rubber, the amount of oils and plastic needed to make just one yoga mat is shockingly high. So why not look for more eco-friendly versions when you need a new yoga mat? I recommend looking for any made from recycled plastic, natural tree rubber, or cork (the latter being more expensive, but a great gift idea for someone you know who is really into yoga).

Jenga Ocean

This last product is one of those items you have at home, which I’m guessing you’ve never even thought about. Almost everyone has Jenga or at least a box with one or two pieces missing, at home. And just like a lost Jenga piece, there is a lot of plastic in the ocean just swirling out there. A company called Bureo realised this was a problem, especially with discarded fishing nets, and asked the makers of Jenga if they’d like to proudly place their name on the first board game made from recycled fishing nets.

They did, of course, and that’s how Jenga Ocean came to be, with each game taking over a kilogram of fishing net out of the ocean and into each tower.

There you have it. Just some of the unique ways recycled plastic is now being used in everyday items. Here’s hoping it is a trend which continues to inspire other companies to follow suit.