Cool Pack

Cool packs are great for keeping food and pharmaceuticals cold during transportation, slapping on a sports injury, the back of your neck during a heatwave. But what to do with the volumes of them which arrive weekly in courier-delivered food boxes?

Some contain gel, some water, but all are wrapped in #7 plastic, which is currently non-recyclable in Whanganui.

Please advocate to suppliers to institute a return and reuse scheme for their packaging products.

See below for some ideas for reuse.

• Place in lunch bags, chilly bins
• Use for sprains/injuries at home, for cooling during hot weather 

The following suggestions haven't been specifically checked. Please email us with your successes (or failures) so we can update this element.

Offer to
• schools for breakfast/lunch programmes, sports events, school nurse
• food banks, Meals on Wheels
• SPCA, animal/bird rescue organisations
• migraine sufferers 
• pharmacies which may recycle them to transport medications
• physical therapist's office
• dance programmes/studios 
• sports teams
• secondhand shops

Cool packs may be able to reused in cavity wall insulation.

Please keep from landfill wherever possible, as they will not biodegrade.