How to Recycle Your Compression Socks

If you’ve recently finished a form of physical therapy involving the use and wear of compression socks and no longer have a practical use for them, or simply have an old pair that you intend on just throwing away, consider recycling your socks before tossing them in the bin. There is a myriad of options you could choose from when it comes to deciding what you should do with your socks when their initial use has run its course. Recycling them can extend their life of use, bringing benefit to you or others for years to come.

Why Recycle?
We’re all familiar with the three R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle. We know that recycling is important, but sometimes, it’s easy to forget just how important it is. Here are some compelling reasons to recycle that might just give you the motivation you need to start recycling more.
1. Recycling Saves Energy
Manufacturing products from scratch uses a lot of energy. It takes quite a bit more energy to create something from scratch than it does to recycle an existing product. For example, recycling aluminum takes about 50% less energy than it does creating new aluminum.
2. Recycling Conserves Resources
It takes a large number of resources to create new products, especially if those products are made from materials that need to be synthesized or mined. Recycling helps conserve these resources so they can be used for other purposes.
3. Recycling Reduces Pollution
The manufacturing process for new products creates a lot of pollution. This pollution can take the form of water pollution, air pollution, and soil pollution. Recycling helps to reduce cluttering our environment with trash which will do more harm than good.
4. Recycling Saves Money
Disposing of our waste costs money. It costs the city, state, and federal governments billions of dollars each year to handle the items we throw out daily. Recycling is good for saving money because it reduces the waste that must be disposed of. This reduces the costs associated with waste disposal, including landfill fees. You could also reuse and repurpose something you planned to throw away to serve another purpose instead of buying a specialized item or tool to do it.
However you decide to recycle your compression socks, there’s never a wrong reason for it. The more we all do our part to reduce waste, the more we and our planet benefit.

Donate Your Compression Socks
Donating your old clothing, especially compression socks, is a fantastic way to extend their use and help someone else at the same time. Here are a few things to consider if you are thinking of recycling your socks:
• Simply put: donating your compression socks will help people in need. Donating clothes to people who cannot afford them helps to ensure that everyone has access to clean, appropriate clothing. The benefit increases when considering that these socks are used for health purposes; you would be providing a method of care and comfort to those that could use it.
• Donating compression socks keeps items out of landfills. When clothes are thrown away, they often end up in landfills, where they take up space and produce methane gas, a greenhouse gas.
• Clothing donation is a great way to support your favorite charities. Many charities rely on donated items to sell to raise funds. When you give to one of these organizations, you’re helping them to make a positive and lasting impact on your community.

Repurpose Your Compression Socks
Repurposing is a fun, creative, and helpful way to keep using your compression socks after you’ve decided their intended use has been completely fulfilled. Try out some of these cool compression socks hacks to get the most use out of your clothing:
1. Attract and Trap Unwanted Odors
Combine some good-smelling herbs and a small box of baking soda in your old (and preferably washed) compression sock, tie it up, and place it in any drawer, cabinet, or sink area to reduce any odors that have been hovering around these spots. Your newly made odor trapper will have your storage areas smelling like new again!
2. Handy for First Aid Kits
A pair of compression socks are a handy, multiuse tool suitable for any first aid kit. They function effectively as emergency tourniquets. They could also be used to hold bandages or gauze in place by tightly wrapping the cloth in place while also having a good amount of airflow to decrease any stuffiness.
3. Clean Almost Anything!
Compression socks offer many options for cleaning your house and possessions. Wrapping the end of a broom with a compression sock will pick up extra debris that a normal broom would probably miss. They’re also a handy piece of cloth to have in a pinch when cleaning corners than a normal brush, duster, or vacuum can’t reach.

Given all the choices we’ve suggested, there’s little reason not to squeeze the extra life out of your compression sock and get as much use from it as possible. That being said, should you choose not to repurpose or donate your socks, we suggest cutting the toe and heel section from the sock and throwing the sock in an appropriate bin. Nylon, one of the most common materials in compression socks, can take anywhere between 30 to 40 years to decompose in a landfill. By taking a few extra steps, your positive choice will help our world stay healthy.

Whatever you decide to do with your old compression socks, we at Crazy Compression are here to help when you’re searching for a new pair. Whatever your use for them may be, we strive to bring you the best quality sock for your needs. If you have any questions about our wide variety of compression socks, please contact us at any time. We’re always here to help!