... leftover covid masks. Mind you, it does not matter exactly when we can shed them forever. It only matters that we should not let them pile up in land fills...

1. Halloween costumes

2. Cleaning car mirrors!

@Shop-et-al wrote:

It only matters that we should not let them pile up in land fills...

1. Halloween costumes

But regardless of how we use the mask or for how long, won't they eventually end up in a landfill somewhere???

But they will have been used for something! At that point, they belong in the trash.

3. Starched, they are perky and a little uplift up there, ya; know?

4. Hammocks for hamsters



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2021 07:44PM by kimmiemae.

They can actually be used for their original purposes. The (generally) blue "procedure masks" are routinely used in the medical field. Consider donating them, even to school nurses. The KN 95 masks were orginally intended for use in dusty fields such as constructions. They will still be needed there.

5. ear muffs. a little re-configuring is all that is needed to cover cold ears. Now, if we could program the filters to filter out whatever we do not want.....

I'm going to keep mine as spares until they degrade (naturally) to the point of being useless/inefficacious.

Maybe for the creative types, you can make some sort of art with them and sell the on Etsy.

People have been buying and paying some crazy prices this past year for all sorts of collectibles, rare art, and the like and I have a feeling there could be some big buyers of artistic COVID mask memorabilia.

7. Paw Protectors. Requires little time and only a few other materials. Pet paws can be shielded from ice on those worst of weather days when they must be outside for a few minutes and risk injury from adhesion to ice.

Okay, laugh all you want, but we will be using ours to cradle the small melons and squash that will be grown up a trellis instead of across the ground. They are just about ideal for that purpose. In a decidedly unscientific test, we determined that they would hold several pounds before the elastics broke.

8. Spare parts. For example, I could send Sandy the numerous broken strings from masks that never made it safely out of their container. These could be add-ons or replacements.

Actually, the majority of the trash goes to fuel for electricity (trash to energy).

@guysmom wrote:

But regardless of how we use the mask or for how long, won't they eventually end up in a landfill somewhere???

9,therapeutic agents for, say, hand issues. a little reconfiguration here and there and... voila! you can do a little something with your hands now and then.

10. Alternate format for banned books. Picture it: Dr. Seuss' little gang are all strung out on small, multi-filtered story picture boards instead of bound up in pages and libraries. "A banned book is a banned book, no matter how small." (Shop-et-al, 2021, and with love for the entirety of kiddie lit.) I checked. It is not illegal to read banned books. It is merely likely to be difficult to find those books. For a good and still-legal read:

[academicarchive.snhu.edu]

Megan Palmer suggested that banned books ban the future.

Others strongly suggest that banning student access to various materials presumes that students are incapable of forming ideas. This presumes that they are incapable of comprehending and applying previously encountered concepts. The better idea is to let them read widely and give them their time to think about what they have read. They can figure things out and carry on. They are the future, after all. I want the kids of today who will manage the future tomorrow to be able to contend with the pleasant, the unpleasant, the nuanced, the blunt, the fantastical, the whimsical, the harsh, the fleeting, the lingering, the previous, the present, the soft, the hard, and everything in between and beyond! The gamut of kiddie lit will provide this for them.

Being older than students does not give license to inflict our limiting views upon them. One underlying question is: why do some in [academia, politics, industry, ?] have a need, or even an overwhelming compulsion, to wedge students into the few and slim cracks in their own views? Another: Are these untreated souls contributing more to the world's problems by forcing issues than by seeking to resolve their own difficulties? Are they merely projecting? A third: Have the tables turned completely instead of shifting one position? Has this created an opposite set of "isms"? This last would be epic fail for education. That would be tragic.

CHECK YOUR FACTS. People keep spreading the misinformation that these books have been banned - but in fact, NO ONE HAS BANNED THESE FEW DR. SEUSS BOOKS. The publisher, within its rights, merely decided to retire these titles because they’re unpopular, outdated, and offensive to some. Classrooms can still use these books as teaching tools-but only if they have old copies, because new ones won’t be offered. In the meantime, please stop spreading the disinformation that these books have been “banned.”

In the meanwhile, It's laughable that Ted Cruz is selling copies of "Green Eggs and Ham" (NOT one of the discontinued books,) autographing it with HIS OWN name, and selling them for $60 as a campaign fundraiser for himself. Cancel culture, indeed!

11. Debate cards.

I see these in something like Kabuki theater, but with factoids instead of the traditional masks. Cheers? Jeers? Anyone?

Still think #4 is the best use

I wanna' be a hamster!

# 7 is timely. We are snowed in, and some stores were (still are?) closed. I suppose that clever pet walkers already figured out that tying a few of them together might provide alternate poopy bags...

The N95 mask will be painted gold and someone will go to a costume party as Madonna.

Little hats for puppets, dusting, cleaning glass, tiny quilts...better yet..a big sculpture/collage of masks outside every store to remember the hard, difficult years.

12. Quilt pieces (cloth masks only). Unused nonwoven masks can be tested with an iron for heat sensitivity and in water for colorfastness. If they pass, they can be trimmed to use as interfacing.

13. Would anyone play Masky Sack? It's the pandemic version of Hacky Sack, complete with mask bags...

@pegc
"NO ONE HAS BANNED THESE FEW DR. SEUSS BOOKS. The publisher, within its rights, merely decided to retire these titles because they’re unpopular, outdated, and offensive to some. Classrooms can still use these books as teaching tools-but only if they have old copies, because new ones won’t be offered. In the meantime, please stop spreading the disinformation that these books have been “banned.” "

True!

I only have about 6.that I made from cotton clothing. They will be dusters. Or still used as masks in some situations.

Polishing my spectacles.

These could be used to dust displays at the end of merch gigs.

It is summer in my part of the world. It is too hot to put heat on the hair, so why not use the masks as rag rollers?

14. Cantaloupe carriers



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2021 09:39PM by kimmiemae.

Glow daubers (for people who do not sweat-- they glow!)

Paw protectors (again): This time, they can protect paws from too-hot surfaces.