Last year I saw a viral video on Facebook all about a nonprofit organization that uses mascara wands to clean baby animals #wandsforwildlife. It’s called Appalachian Wildlife Refuge and they rescue and rehabilitate injured and orphaned wildlife in North Carolina.
This organization, in particular, caught my eye because of their unique approach to not only helping animals but also recycling, literally two of my favorite things.
They use the mascara wands to remove fly eggs and larva from baby animal fur. The wands are perfect because they’re so small and the bristles are close together.
I love this idea so much, of course, I want to help. Like I said, helping animals and recycling are two of my favorite things, but so is makeup! If I can use makeup to help animals and recycle while I’m doing it, I’m a very happy lady.
Related: Why I Buy Cruelty-Free
When I first saw the video I didn’t have any wands to donate, but I have been saving up for a few months now, and I’m up to 8 wands that I’m sending in!
If you’re interested in helping baby animals and want to recycle your old mascara wands too, here’s how:
- Save/collect mascara wands.
- Clean your old wands with warm soapy water.
- Print out the form from their website.
- *Mail wands and form in!
*You’re responsible for shipping fee
I think this is such a great way to help animals and be able to recycle something you’d normally throw away. I would never have thought that mascara wands could be used for this but it’s perfect!
Of course, you can also donate to Appalachian Wildlife Refuge or even volunteer if you’re in the western North Carolina area.
I’m so excited to donate my wands, now if only there was a way to donate my old liquid lipstick wands!
Related: Eco-Friendly Gifts
Related: DIY Recycle Center
Let me know in the comments below if you do anything different to recycle or if you’d like to donate your mascara wands too!
Christina is a twenty-something living with her beagle, Mash, and husband, Nate in their van. She loves traveling, shopping, art, and photography. She’s also a vegetarian, pop-culture enthusiast, book-lover, and Dave Matthews Band fanatic. Catch her somewhere around the country in a converted camper van or at home in Florida for a visit.
This is such a great idea! I will have to see if I have any that I can donate.
This is so awesome! I haven’t heard of this before but now I want to! I think I have a few mascara wands I can send in.
aww…adorable pics! What a great idea and I do love the idea of recycling versus just tossing these things. Who knew you could do so much with them?
Wow this is amazing! I am so glad you told us about It. For sure doing it!
We are just starting to get into mascara wearing here with my two oldest girls. What a great idea to recycle the used wands
This is a really neat way to recycle mascara wands. That is so cool to be able to help animals. I love the idea of doing this, will pass along to my friends who wear mascara. I don’t personally wear it so can’t help with this area, but going to go visit their website!
This is incredible! Keeping them out of the landfills while being used to help animals.
I dont use a lot of mascara because I feel like one tube can last me a whole year but this cause is amazing! Im gonna share this to my social platform so my other beauty blogger friends can see it :))
Thank you!!
And yeah, it’s definitely taken me a while to save up. Some where even just ones I’d bought but didn’t like or use so I’m glad I got to recycle them instead of totally waste them.
Wow! This is quite an innovative idea. Mascara wands to help wildlife – who would have thought of that! I’ll start recycling them from now onwards. Thanks for sharing this lovely idea! 🙂
Um beauty and saving saving animals!?!? I’m so on bored!! Everyone needs to hear about this!!
This sounds so cool. I like the idea of recycling mascara wand. Another initiative to keep away waste going into the landfills.
Aww, this is such a great idea. I love recycling these and using them to give back to nature and to the environment.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this article. What a great way to recycle mascara wands. Wow! Thanks for sharing this info. I cannot wait to learn more about this awesome organization.
This is such a great idea! I have been thinking about living a more sustainable lifestyle and becoming a smart consumer and this is great recycling!
It’s such an easy way to recycle and it just makes my heart feel warm and fuzzy like those baby animals! GO you for wanting to be more sustainable 🙂
Great post! Thanks for sharing. It’s such a great idea to recycle and help the animals.
I was wondering where to donate my mascara and I couldn’t be happier knowing that my eye wand could be used on to massage the fur of a beautiful baby duck and possum. Thank you for sharing!
You are very welcome! I’m so excited about this amazing cause!
This is SO COOL! Thank you for posting this, I had no idea!
Wow! What an awesome article! Love that you took a commonly trashed item and found such a creative and meaningful solution. Definitely pinning and sharing – thanks!
XOXO,
Eco Girl
Very Helpful and Informative post.