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Let Me Count the Way to Reuse Your Mylar Balloons
Photo by permission of peretzpup
With Mother’s Day fastly approaching, what would be nicer than a flower arrangement with a shiny Mylar Balloon inscribed with the saying, “Number 1 MOM?” How about your Memorial Day or 4th of July party? Mylar balloons just add to the festival attitude. Just name the celebration, and there are Mylar balloons created for that very occasion.
Mylar balloons have their pros and cons. Mylar balloons last longer than natural latex balloons, and rain cannot deter that special message from being seen by all. However, longevity comes with a price since these little wonders do not biodegrade for a very, very long time. So, what do you do with them when they sink to the ground? Most people just throw them away and never give it another thought. They don’t realize that those balloons will sit in a landfill way beyond little Susie’s birthday.
Recently, I was asked to come up with some ideas on how to reuse these balloons. They needed to use them so they would last for several days outside. Telling them not to use the Mylar balloons was not an option. I thought and thought and did a little research and found the following ideas on how to reuse these shiny wonders.
1. Use the balloon as either gift paper or a gift bag. Snip of the bottom. Either put the gift inside the Mylar like a gift bag, and then tie it with a ribbon. Alternatively, cut it in two, and use it as wrapping paper.
2. Use the balloon for scrapbooking. Cut out the letters to use for sayings and/or use the shiny colored part for the backgrounds for your pictures or mementos. (Via Recycle this)
3. Use the Mylar balloons for animal deterrence.
For deer: Cut up the balloon into long strips and tie them to your fence or on a stake near your plants to wave in the wind. See a picture on the Maryland Department of Resources. This will (hopefully) scare deer away. See the Georgia Department of National Resources for more information on how to use Mylar balloons to deter deer.
Birds and fruit trees: On RecycleThis, a commenter suggested hanging them in your fruit trees to scare the birds away.
Woodpeckers: According to the Carolina Wildlife Care, Frequently asked Questions, Mylar balloons or pieces of the same can be used to stop Woodpeckers from pecking at your house. “Hang shiny Mylar strips, Mylar balloons, or aluminum foil around area of home. Woodpeckers do not like shiny, mirror-like materials.”
Birds banging into your windows: Additionally the organization suggests, you can hang these same strips outside your windows to discourage birds from banging into them.
4. Deflate the balloons and use them again. Here are instructions on Inscrutables.
5. Use the Mylar balloon to wrap a bottle of wine instead of purchasing a wine gift bag.
Here are suggestions numbers 6 through 8 from Creative Ways to Reuse a Mylar Balloon.” Read this article for details on how to make the following:
6. Try using the Mylar as packing materials instead of peanuts.
7. Make pompoms out of them.
8. Use them to make photo frame backs. Instead of using a matte stock paper, consider using the Mylar instead attached to card stock as the background.
9. Use for creative art projects. In the alternatively, see if a school could use them for art projects.
10. Use to put around a plant instead of tin foil when giving a plant gift. Just tie a ribbon around the pot to secure the balloon in place.
Help me out with some suggestions! Do you have any ideas on how to reuse Mylar balloons?
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on May 7th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
I think it was when my daughter was 3 that she ate a balloon and almost choked that I decided I’m done with balloons, perhaps if we didn’t buy them we wouldn’t have to think of ways to recycle them. Gosh - If enough people stopped buying them …well wouldn’t that be a coop
Mother Earth’s last blog post..I got an MRI Yesterday
on May 8th, 2008 at 2:30 am
Great ideas! Thanks for sharing useful ideas in recycling mylar balloons. Instead of throwing away those balloons after using, they can still be used to other purpose.
on May 14th, 2008 at 7:55 am
We reuse our easter egg wrappers for card decorations, in collages, and to decorate paper mache bowls or picture frames, plus anything else craft~related that we can think of.
Mylar balloons would probably work pretty well, too.
When I’m feeling *really* patient, I even use a hole punch with the wrappers, and I think that mylar would work much better with that.
Great post idea!
Jane @ Kidzarama’s last blog post..Craft for Kidz Blog Carnival
on May 14th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Jane, this is a great add! Green Talk readers can always use some crafty ideas to be greener. Everyone, check out Jane’s blog, http://www.kidzarama.com. Anna