It seems in our society that maturity is measured by the number of little plastic cards that we carry around. The older we get the more little cards we seem to acquire until they end up forming our very identities. It’s even possible for other people, by taking all of these cards from us, to take our identities for themselves. It’s a terrifying word that we live in. Unfortunately these cards with all of their harmful plastic and risk of theft have become a fact of life for most of us today. That doesn’t mean there aren’t things we can do with them to reduce their negative effects on the Earth. Here are some practical, fun, and sometimes a little silly uses for your old plastic cards.
- One very popular use for old plastic cards is scraping. You can use them as emergency ice scrapers for your car in the winter, for scraping grease and cooked on foods from your dishes and stovetops, scraping the mud off the bottoms of shoes, for cleaning up after your pet on walks, and as a spatula for scraping extra cookie dough out of the bottom of the bowl and eating it. Cards are perfect for messy jobs because you can throw them out afterwards, just don’t use them on anything hot. Plastic melts.
- Another potential use for old plastic cards is for home repair jobs. These cards are excellent for scraping putty off of cracks and walls. They can also be used to smooth out caulking or sealer around edges and gaps.
- Old plastic cards are very useful as tools and cutlery when none is available. Airlines won’t even allow plastic knives on board anymore and sometimes you don’t remember to take a knife to work to cut up your lunch. Just make sure to wash them off well first. Who says you can’t survive in the wild with only a credit card? When cut up credit card edges are very sharp and can easily be shaped into a spear or a dagger to use for survival until you are rescued. You can also use old cards for target practice.
- Once you’re done with your cards it doesn’t mean they are done with for good. Scrape off any identification and let your kids play pretend shopping with them. It’s an excellent way to familiarize young children with debt and budgeting. Don’t have kids? Let your hamsters, mice, or any pets that like to chew things have your left over cards. This may not be very healthy for your pets though so on second thought, maybe don’t do that.
- The most fun you can have with a credit card or debit card, after you’ve already had fun shopping and now are having fun paying off, is to turn it into something else. You can make all kinds of things with expired cards such as guitar picks, funky 80’s looking jewelry, picture frames, placemats and coasters, hanging mobiles, and interesting sculptures and centre pieces. If you don’t want to use your cards as art you can easily use them to create art. Use them for sculpting or creating interesting painting techniques and textures.
Obviously the best thing to do when it comes to plastic cards is to limit them as much as possible. Make sure your cards aren’t being abused and you won’t need a replacement cards for a long time and don’t take cards for anything unless it is necessary. The fewer credit cards we all have the better for everyone and when you do have any kind of cards that you need to get rid, of try re-using them or re-creating them into something different. Remember to protect yourself and your information you can scrape any details off the cards or cut them into separate pieces. Whatever the fate of your used plastic cards, be creative with it and have fun.
