You can use them as incubators for little plants in the spring to keep them warm at night if you’re in a cold place. Or if you want a fun project build a cloud chamber and watch particles move.
this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2025
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Depending on the density of the Styrofoam, it can be used as a rainfall simulator for a greenhouse. Water drips through some Styrofoam in a very random way.
I agree with charity and giving them away as a first priority. However, have you considered building an igloo?
Original comment deleted… I just realized how small the containers are. Original suggestion would not have made sense.
I agree with contacting local charities (kitchens, food banks, etc) and see if they can use them.
That's probably the best option so far, there's a lot of homeless near me and I've got nothing better to give.
Chop the Styrofoam into little pieces. Place in glass bottle. When the time is right, add gasoline. Now you have napalm. Rag for wick./s <-- this means I'm just kidding and you should never, ever do this or throw it at fascists.
Also, in these situations, you never want to use the rag as a stopper for a bottle filled with gasoline. Instead, you cork the top, soak the rag in oil, and tie it around the bottle neck. Light the rag. When the bottle breaks, it'll ignite the theoretical napalm.
Doing this will keep the gas from spilling on you when you throw it. Safety first!
/s <-- this is all a joke, of course and we definitely don't condone violence or burning fascists.
Funny enough, I've done this before. The big issues is the styrofoam loses its fluff and you end up with a small glob. It'd be more effective to mix it in a bowl and pump it into the bottle.
I keep napalm for starting fires at home and camp. Can't be beat!
I love burning down my home for a little excitement on the weekend!
Homemade napalm, is, uh, not like the movies. It's merely a gelatinous substance, that once on fire, burns forever.
It doesn't explode. It's not reactive, to anything. It just sits in a jar until you take a twig and twirl some out, light it on fire.
Learn some chemistry, some basic science, experiment! Stop getting your ideas from Hollywood.
fun for the whole family
make molotov cocktails. nothing like the smell of homemade napalm and a little, uh, "civil disobedience" in the morning.
All You Can Eat Napalm, now serving!
just don't set any American flags on fire and wear a red hat.
Donate to a local food bank, homeless shelter, meals on wheels. Styrofoam containers can be used to store or transport hot or cold foods to those in need.
If they are the right kind of Styrofoam, they can be recycled. See if there's someplace near you that takes them.
I did look into that and sadly they aren't. Any recycling will have to be upcycled
Reduce > Reuse > Recycle
Don't skip over Reuse. The coolers are in good condition and odds are even if there was recycling, it would generate more waste than reusing it.
Everyone is out here telling you to sell them for $x meanwhile I'd suggest just giving them away for free to anyone willing to pick em up. No compromises.
Soundproof your sex dungeon?
That is a ridiculous suggestion. Clearly OP has already soundproofed their sex dungeon and wants to know how to use them next.
We've soundproofed one sex dungeon, yes, but what about second sex dungeon?
Well you can never have too many sex dungeons
Donate to food banks or post them up for sale on Craigslist for $5 each. They're kind of expensive these days and fishermen/campers frequently want them.
I dunno about that. I have a pile of coolers behind the shed, all shapes and sizes, that I've picked off the road for free.
I mean yeah, normal coolers arent that hard to find. But, When you're fishing or bird hunting though it's often easier to throw a catch in a disposable cooler that doesn't need to be fully washed and sanitized and won't permanently end up smelling like whatever you got three weeks ago, because plastic is semi-permeable.
Oh! I get it now. I don't hunt or fish. My coolers are for beer and water, easy to wash out, dry in the sun.
You're right. If the contents are nasty, just use disposable styrofoam, chunk it in a pickle jar of unleaded, use the napalm to light camp fires. 👍🏻
Make some styrofoam swamp coolers. My AC is not catching up this summer and I have a few of these due to some eyedrops I've been getting shipped to me. I'm seriously considering building one until I get my AC serviced when it gets cooler.
Personally I really don't think swamp coolers are worth it. If you wanna evaporate water to cool off, do it right on your skin using a damp towel instead of making the air all swampy for a slightly cool breeze. Towel+regular fan is much more effective imo
I'd love that if it weren't so humid here that they're functionally useless. Though I am thinking about using them to insulate my attic to reduce heat transfer.
A quick check at amazon shows these costing about $14 each, no doubt much less in bulk but still expensive. Perhaps inquire with the shipper if they would accept them for reuse if cleaned. If the shipper is friendly they might consider setting up a program to collect these from your city and return them for reuse. The shipper could save considerably on costs and you might have found a new business.
Yes or just flog them on Ebay/marketplace etc
I would do Craigslist/marketplace. Find someone who resells them or uses them for some product and have them pick up every 3 months or whatever schedule for a set price. Way less hassle than finding a new buyer everytime.
Good idea
Homemade flammable gel.
Start harvesting organs.
At today’s interest rates and inflation, this is the only viable solution.
~How much can I get for selling a kidney on the black market?~
frustrating. I was also getting a steady supply of ice packs. One time one of the ice packs said it could be used as plant fertilizer and I was happy to do so but never saw another one like that.
I take my trash to a transfer station. The amount of single-use stuff we throw away is frightening.
I never came up with an answer. I asked my neighbors on an app and they had similar issues with chilled medical delivery.
Living in a large metro area I can throw nearly anything in the free section of Craigslist and someone will grab it. Old incandescent light bulbs, exterior door locks with matching keys, and a shower head i didn't like.
If it is metal and no one wants it I can take to a recycling place.
Make a cool boat
As someone with cystic fibrosis, I've got the same problem but once a month. So much packaging. And then if you need a port for two weeks? Here's your lifetime supply of materials.
Can we convert Styrofoam into something you can sell? Maybe you can injection mould it somehow and sell figurines?
I can't say I've ever considered that, I'll have to look into what I can use it for.
Make a raft
Home igloo?
Put meals in them and give them to the unhoused?
You could keep them to pack your own food into encase of a power outage. I assume this nest together so they wouldn't take up much room.
Likely not something you will do but I found this interesting: There is an electronics business in the UK who bought a machine to break up styrofoam into small bit. They also have a steady supply of the stuff. They paid for the machine by selling the styrofoam as blown-in insulation.
organ harvesting