25 Unexpected Ways to Reuse Your Old Yoga Mat

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So that you’ve simply unrolled your model new yoga mat. All the things about it’s excellent, from its thickness to its grip. However amid the thrill of unboxing, you’ve forgotten about one *minor* element. What do you do together with your previous yoga mat?

It’s tempting to shove your used yoga mat in a closet so you may, properly, overlook about it altogether (till you’re trying to find a jacket and the mat tumbles out in a multitude of different “forgotten” gadgets). However simply because your used mat is now not as much as the duty of supporting your yoga follow doesn’t imply it could possibly’t have a brand new objective.

Whether or not you recycle, donate, or reuse it, there are lots of methods to make sure your used yoga mat doesn’t go to waste.

Are Yoga Mats Recyclable?

It relies upon.

In case your mat is ripped, worn, now not grippy, or in any other case unusable, take into account recycling it. Mats produced from pure rubber or cork are often recyclable. However many cheap and barely older yoga mats are produced from difficult-to-recycle materials, corresponding to polyvinyl chloride (PVC), thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), or artifical rubber. Not all recycling facilities course of these supplies, so Google what the recycling guidelines are to your metropolis.

When you’re unsure in regards to the materials of your mat, it takes lower than 5 minutes to verify on-line for the specs of no matter model and elegance of mat you personal.

Some corporations do the recycling for you. Yoga mat maker Manduka companions with the patron trade-in service SuperCircle to ship you a pay as you go label to ship your “pre-loved” yoga mat from any model and “responsibly recycle your mats into element components.” Nothing results in a landfill and also you’ll obtain a 20 % low cost on something from Manduka.

The place to Donate Yoga Mats

In case your mat is comparatively new or in usable situation, take into account donating it to a nonprofit, charity, or different group that accepts mat donations. That mentioned, earlier than you’re feeling all do-gooder-y, understand that if it’s worn or scratched to the purpose the place you wouldn’t need to follow on it, chances are high nobody else would need to, both.

Google “yoga mat donations close to me” or take into account any of the next native organizations:

• Shelters for the unhoused and survivors of home abuse
• Grownup care facilities
• Native animal shelters
• Public colleges or youth heart
• Group facilities
• Thrift shops

Additionally, some organizations place donated mats with lecturers bringing yoga to the neighborhood, together with:

25 Sudden Methods to Reuse Your Yoga Mat

You by no means understand how that worn yoga mat would possibly help you in methods exterior of your follow.

1. Benefit from your mat’s sticky qualities by utilizing it as a nonslip liner for the trunk of your automobile.
2. Preserve it in your backseat as an easy-to-clean strategy to defend leather-based or upholstery from pet fur. Additionally works properly to comprise the mess from moist or muddy athletic footwear and tools.
3. Use it as a backdrop to your youngster’s newest art work session—particularly when glue or glitter or different magnificently messy components are concerned.
4. Line your pet’s crate with it for cushioning or their provider for much less sliding.
5. Trim to dimension and cling to the bottoms of chair and desk legs as a strategy to stop scuffs and scratches in your flooring.
6. Take it to any athletic taking place you attend and depend on it as protectant in opposition to wet grass, ridiculously hard bleachers or stadium chairs, or benches dappled with bird poop.
7. Lower to suit the bottom of your pet’s meals and water bowls to maintain them from sliding.
8. Stack it beneath your present yoga mat for further cushiness throughout yin and restorative practices.
9. Place it alongside your new mat whenever you follow at residence to present your pet the mat they’ve all the time appeared to need (and possibly they’ll cease crowding or scratching yours).
10. Put collectively a jigsaw puzzle on it. Whenever you need to stroll away from the unfinished mission, merely roll the entire shebang up and are available again to it later.
11. Unfurl it as a shoe mat outside the front of your tent when tenting to assist maintain filth out of your quarters. Really, you possibly can do the identical at residence subsequent to the entrance door.
12. If it nonetheless has respectable grip, lower a small piece and stash it in a kitchen drawer to be used as a jar opener.
13. Roll it tightly, repair it in place with glue or material strips, and use it as a mini bolster beneath your knees throughout seated stretches or Savasana.
14. Fold it over itself and kneel on it as a cushion when gardening.
15. Line your software drawer or shelf with it.
16. Preserve the subsequent cardboard espresso sleeve you get together with your caffeine repair and use it as a stencil to style your personal reusable coffee sleeve.
17. Lower and use as a liner for drawers or cabinets within the kitchen.
18. In case your mat has a grippy backside, layer it beneath a rug to forestall slipping.
19. Style strips lower to size of a door or windowsill, roll, and tuck them in place for draft safety.
20. Lower into shapes for youngster’s play, corresponding to letters of the alphabet or bases for kickball.
21. Use it as your background when chopping out stitching patterns.
22. Place it inside your automobile as a dashboard protector.
23. Stash it within the storage for when your automobile begins to leak oil.
24. Depend on it to cushion mirrors or art work when transferring or placing it into storage.
25. Lower right into a small sq. and use as a mouse pad to your pc. If the floor feels too grippy to your mouse, connect a bit of fabric to at least one aspect.

This text has been up to date. Initially printed February 28, 2010.