All bikers have one thing in common and that is their love for helmets. Our helmets deserve every bit of love and care conceivable. Every bike lover has one favorite bike accessory or the other. Most of them love their helmets more than they care about anything else in this world. There are some who go to sleep at night with their helmets by the side of the light stand. Then there are fanatics who keep cleaning their bike helmet all their lives.
Bikers love their helmets so much, that they have superstitions attached to them. They use that one lucky helmet for all the trips. And, we here at Bikesquest, understand your love and passion for your helmets. However, all of us have the same query and that is what to do with old bike helmets. So we came up with a few ideas and let’s see what they are and how we can remain in touch with our favorite piece of memorabilia.
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Should we reuse our old bike helmets?
Yes, we should. There is no other way of giving respect to your oldest pal than by reusing them for something close to you. You can use your helmets in different ways like using it as your plant pots. More often than not we end up loving plants, thereby customizing our garden to best suit who we are or who we were.
The Exterior
All you need to do is to remove the inner paddings, all the liners and that foam to bring out the exoskeleton. The vents that kept your scalp free from moisture are actually greatly helpful draining the water out of the plants and keeping them relatively dry for better growth. You should also remove the visor if there is one on your bike helmet because it is not much of any use right now, anymore.
The Straps
The straps are of no use when it comes to planting your favorite seeds, so they come off as well. However, these nylon straps are extremely useful if you wish to hang your helmet from somewhere with your plant. The customized garden looks even cooler with hanging plants and there is no denying that. Moreover, this is how you can demonstrate your past life and showcase your love for bikes.
Safety
You should also know that the exterior of your helmets is made of pretty solid material. Especially the ones made with polycarbonate or maybe even ABS or thermoplastic polymer. These materials were used in the helmet to save you from medium to major impacts if and when you fall.
We mean this especially for those who live in areas that are prone to earthquakes, globally. You can simply bring them out of the bed during sudden strong tremors under your feet and save your head from falling debris.
Others
In any event, there are other popular reuses of an old helmet. There are hunters who can practice aiming by hanging them from tree branches. Your old pal may be of use to emergency training of doctors and nurses by replicating an instance about how to treat a patient with motorcycle head injury (with the helmet still stuck on).
Many times when we order from an online e-commerce website we get packages with foam materials that keep your package safe. Your old helmet’s EPS foam can be reused like that as well. In fact, you can use the foam for packing gift items you send out to your loved ones during different holidays.
If you are still confused about what to do with old bike helmets then maybe you should consider our next segment.
Should we recycle our old bike helmet?
The environment is taking enough within itself just for our sake so that we can live our human lives better. We should be more careful about how we treat our surroundings and the environment as a whole.
There are many who would argue that they alone cannot make a change but we say, that’s a myth. All of us, on an individual level, have the ability to change things around for our environment. That is why disposing of our beloved helmets is not easy at all. We should not just throw them to our dumpsters now, should we? Not at all.
There are some major concerns when it comes to recycling helmets. Most of the manufacturers use plastic shells and EPS foam and none of these are recyclable from any angle whatsoever. Your local level recyclers don’t want to take a mix of separate kinds of plastic materials either. The reason is that practically speaking, it is another issue altogether to segregate plastic in terms of its grade.
It is also a better option to contact your manufacturer and find out whether the plastic used on your helmet is recyclable or not. If they are not recyclable it is better you use those parts in the ways we suggested in our previous segment. It is a shocker than not all manufacturers of helmets are on the same page on this topic. In the recent past, we have seen EPS turned into electricity by burning them. Even though carbon is emitted, at least it gives back energy equivalent to 1.3 liters of oil.
Conclusion
All technology aimed at recycling and reusing older plastics should be welcome. In fact, ABS is potentially recyclable but no manufacturers are essentially involved in doing that. Whenever we ask what to do with old bike helmets we should consider the least harmful manner possible for mother earth.
Some manufacturers have taken into consideration that the EPS foam used in the helmets to be recycled and used in new helmets. You can participate in the change by adopting a new method. Whenever you are replacing the inner materials for your bike helmet, try to choose materials that are recyclable in general.
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