How can I reuse or recycle an old pet bed?
I spent most of yesterday afternoon in the garden with a few of the neighbourhood children because one of the girls got it in her head that she wanted to dig over our veg plot ahead of this year’s planting and I’m a firm believer in exploiting child labour at every opportunity.
Since we’ve all been pretty much in hibernation over the winter, it’s the first time I’ve seen them in a while and it reminded me about something her dad made last year. He’d got the metal chassis of an old pull-along trailer and rebuilt the rest of the trailer out of scrap wood etc. Over the random spare tyres, he had some natty wheel arches and he asked us to guess how we thought he’d made them – we guessed scrap wheel arches from something else – but as the title of this post might suggest, they were in fact an old plastic dog bed cut in two and spray painted to match the rest of the trailer. They really looked the part and as a bonus, didn’t add any extra weight to the trailer either. I thought it was a pretty great re-use and kept meaning to post it on here but forgot until now.
So that’s one idea – but probably not one most people would use – so any other suggestions?
If it is a plastic one, like in the picture, you could cover the walk-in slot with plastic or something and turn it into a flower bed
If the base is solid, it looks as if it might be useful for messy jobs like potting plants.
It’s a higher good to leave intact, clean up and give away to someone who needs one, either at a rescue group, shelter or put it out at the curb with a FREE sign on it.
Shelters usually love to get gently-used pet supplies. You can try a domestic or wild animal shelter. I have worked at both and we were always more than happy to take beds, toys, bowls, collars, etc.
Either take it to a charity shop, or maybe to an animal shelter.
Attach the ropes and make a swing for a baby.