How to recycle your old mascara wands

Animal lovers, prepare yourself. This is a seriously cute and easy way that you can help care for small animals. If you have any old mascara brushes lying around, this is your chance to put them to good use.  

So picture this, you’ve just ran out of your favourite mascara and you’re ready for a top up. If you’re wondering where you can recycle your old mascara wands rather than just tossing them in the bin, we’ve got the answer. 

The tiny bristles of a mascara wand can help to free animals from flees, nits and other bugs clinging onto fur. Animals such as ducklings can often be harder to clean as their fur is more sensitive, but it turns out our old mascara wands work brilliantly!  

Recycling your old mascara brushes to help small animals was originally launched by Appalachian Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina, but there are now many animal shelters all over the UK that are appealing for you to donate your old mascara wands.  

So how can you help?  

Hunt through your makeup drawer to find any empty tubes of mascara (don’t forget you should be replacing your mascara every 3 months anyway). Once you have an empty mascara tube, sterilise and clean the brush with warm soapy water and then pop it into a clear sealable bag. You can then either post it to the Appalachian Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina or check to see if your local wildlife centre closer to home also needs them.  

This is a great way to recycle old mascara wants that are usually binned after use.  

Ideally, your mascara should be replaced every 3 months to avoid a build up of bacteria and to get the most out of the formula, so if you’ve been meaning to spring clean your makeup bag, now is the perfect time!  

The Wands for Wildlife idea was originally launched by Appalachian Wildlife Refuge. The Appalachian Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina takes care of injured and orphaned animals and launched the programme when they discovered the beauty tools are great for cleaning and grooming small animals. A much better idea than them going to waste we think!  

If you’d like to donate, please send your mascara wands to the below address or check your local wildlife centre to see if they can use them.  

Appalachian Wild 

P.O. Box 1211 

Skyland, NC 28776 

The New Arc Animal Rescue Centre in Aberdeenshire also recently appealed for old mascara wands to be donated.  

If this has reminded you that you’re due a top up of your favourite mascara, you can pick up CODE VLM here.