Old mascara wands can work magic on small animals after being used on your lashes

So you’ve finished your mascara, time to throw it away and move on to the next? Wait. Before you throw away that plastic wand do something more environmentally friendly.

Did you know your old mascara wands can be used to clean away fly eggs, larvae, clean away oil, infections, mud and other contaminants from wildlife? The wands can be used to groom the fur and feathers of tiny animals such as pigeons, baby ducklings and bunnies. Ducklings in particular have more sensitive fur, therefore the bristles on mascara wands have been found to work brilliantly. The mascara wands replace the grooming that the young would have received from their parents.

It is a fantastic opportunity to help support wildlife and reusing plastic that otherwise would have resulted in being part of the mass of landfill. The less plastic in our landfills and oceans the better!

So where do I send them?

Firstly clean your wand with warm soapy water. Once these have been cleaned and dried simply just post them to one of the following:

Barnacle Hedgehog Rescue 8 Lower Road Barnacle Coventry CV7 9LD

Pets And Wildlife Service (PAWS) Staffordshire 4 Norfolk Grove Great Wyrley WS6 6JS

The New Arc

Nether Auquhadlie,

Auchnagatt,

Ellon,

Aberdeenshire,

AB41 8UW

Appalachian Wildlife Refuge

P.O. Box 1211

Skyland

NC 28776