• View ecochildsplay’s profile on Facebook
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Twitter
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Instagram
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Pinterest
  • View Jennifer Lance’s profile on LinkedIn
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on YouTube
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Google+

Eco Child's Play

Live a greener, healthier life!

  • Environment
  • Pregnancy
  • Food & Recipes
  • Health News
  • Parenting
  • Green Toys
  • Beauty & Beauty Products
  • Green Home & Cleaning
  • Contact

Reuse those Crayola Markers

Reuse MarkersEditor’s note: The following post was originally published on Green and Clean Mom. “Green & Clean Mom can inspire you to try a little harder, be a catalyst for change and to offer you some new tips and news on how to be the green, sexy and sassy mom…I know you are!”

Markers dry out and then what, they end up in our landfills. Children love them and if they are washable and non-toxic, parents and teachers love them. I know how to recycle and reuse crayons but markers? I’ve never known how to recycle them and even when I tweeted about it and did some research I couldn’t dig up much on the recycling of markers. One of my favorite sites, Earth 911 couldn’t even help me. Disappointing. The best answer I could come up with came from Yahoo answers. Yes, Yahoo answers. What I learned is this, there is no green way to dispose of child friendly, non-toxic, washable markers. Sorry. I wish that there was. The plastic is just not recyclable and it won’t bio-degrade…that I know of. I’d love to learn otherwise and I’m sure my readers would too. If you know something share but I’ve written to the companies and I’ve gone to the store and there are no tips on the packages for recycling.

In the meantime, I’m going to make sure the caps are kept on the markers last as long as possible. I’m also going to promote reusing the markers and the caps on the markers. How?

To reuse the markers and caps:

1. Take a small cup of water, dip the marker into the water and whala you have a watercolor paint brush. The children have fun and you are reusing the ink that you thought was dried up but with some water, you have a marker paint brush.

2. Re-Use the caps and put them on your fingers to finger paint with…my children love this!

Read more ideas for reusing markers at Green and Clean Mom!

  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • WhatsApp
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe!

« 46 Green Moms and Eco Dads on Twitter: Follow Eco Child's Play to Win!
Dear President Bush: Thank You For Screwing Over My Kids »

Comments

  1. Tara says

    December 10, 2008 at 6:54 pm

    I was wondering this very thing today. My kids are always leaving the caps off and I feel like I’m on cap patrol constantly to avoid chucking them. Another 4 year old taught me the water trick to revive them but it doesn’t work for very long. Someone needs to invent something! Come on all you green momtrepreneurs!

    Reply
  2. amy says

    December 16, 2008 at 5:20 am

    I have always cherished my markers from very young. I discovered that you can pop the back end off and add just a few drops of water. you get almost double life out of the maker. by the third boost they get a much lighter. you could then gut the markers and use just the tube, cut it in to 1/2 inch pieces with a razor pipe cutter (clean cuts) and string them as beads.

    Reply
  3. Jonathan says

    January 2, 2009 at 11:49 pm

    Hey I thought this same thought and of course it’s recyclable! There’s always a way! How can you have that much plastic for that little marker life? Well there can be multiple solutions I think, one of them being: selling individual inside felt parts so they’re replacable or having a shipment of these markers back to the plants so they can replace them a resell them and any number of these things so I myself am going to email crayola and hopefully suede them toward some sort of ecological compromise because just think of how many markers per year just one school goes through and how many schools there are. Too many to add.

    Reply
  4. Briana says

    June 23, 2009 at 7:55 am

    I just read about soaking them in a bowl of warm water overnight, followed by letting them sit for a day, then, storing them with the cap for a day. . . . A couple of days later voila: new markers! I also read about injecting permanent markers with nail polish remover to revive them. I wonder if injecting water would work for crayolas???? I’m going to test it out.

    Reply
  5. the anti mom says

    March 17, 2010 at 9:59 am

    you can always make a pipe out of it 😉

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search Content

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter


About Eco Child’s Play

Our ethos is to provide news, information, and opinions on natural, green parenting to help your family live a greener, healthier life! Additionally, we offer personal consulting services to help you achieve your green living goals.

Jennifer is a vegetarian, yoga teacher, gardener, hiker, teacher, and mother that has been living off-the-grid for over 20 years.

Contact Eco Child’s Play

Plants Over Plastics! Repurpose Compostable Home Products

Convenient Plastic Container Free Dropps Laundry & Dishwashing Pods

More from the archives!

Is Maternal Weight the Key to Preventing Childhood Obesity?

Wal-Mart Still Selling Lead Bibs in Some States

Hank D and the Bee: Monsanto Sending Bees to Jail

Too Close: Protect your family from cell phone radiation

Organic Purple Carrot Juice- Why Yes From First Juice

cbd salve joy organics

CBD Products that Actually Deliver: Joy Organics

wama hemp underwear

The Most Comfortable Underwear is Made of Hemp: WAMA Review

Information

  • About & Contact
  • Archive
  • Blog
  • Consulting Services
  • Disclaimer, Disclosure, & Sponsored Posts
  • Privacy Policy

95+% Organic, Kosher, Vegan, Dairy Free, Gluten Free Agave Soda

Bug Off! Finding Safer Insect Repellents-

Indonesia Law Follows Gisele’s Advice: Breastfeed or Go To Jail

Easter Recipes

5 Easter Recipes & 5 Easter Egg Ideas for Spring

Why is my baby crying? Is it GERD or Colic? [infographic]

Popular Categories

  • Breastfeeding
  • Health News
  • Natural Childbirth
  • Parenting
  • Education
  • Product Review
  • Green Toys

Get our posts via email

Please stay in touch!

You might also like to read…

home birth

35 Reasons Why We Choose Homebirth

Eco-Friendly Backpacks for Back to School

Little Debbie Adds Snack Food to Salmonella Peanut Butter Recall

The Best Natural Toys are Nature Itself!

Hank D and the Bee: Protecting our Trees

Copyright © 2023 · Divine theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2023 · Divine Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.