Get Rid of Your Bean Bag – 15 Ways to Dispose

Over time, your old bean bag chair may start to wear out. It may get torn, or the filling may begin to spill out. No matter what state it is in, you need to dispose of your bean bag and the filling properly so that it doesn’t cause any harm to the environment or your health.

This article contains some handy tips on how to go about this process and make sure that your old bean bag gets the respect it deserves.

Table of Contents

• Disposing of a Bean Bag Chair: What You Must Know
• 15 Ways to Get rid of an Old Bean Bag
  • 1. Reuse Bean Bag to the Maximum Potential
  • 2. Gift your Bean Bag to Someone it Needs
  • 3. Donate Bean Bag to Charity
  • 4. Sell Old Bean Bags as Used Items
  • 5. Use Old Bean Bag Fillings for a Punching Bag
  • 6. Reuse the Bean Bag Fillings to Make Pillows
  • 7. Use the Filling as Bedding for Pets
  • 8. Use Bean Bag Filling as Filling for Your Furniture
  • 9. Reuse the Fillings to Make Soft Toys
  • 10. Make Small Bean Bags From It
  • 11. Make a Cool Box
  • 12. Use EPS beads in Artwork
  • 13. Use EPS Filling to Store Glassware
  • 14. Use as a Footrest
  • 15. Handover to a Recycling Center
• The Dos and Don’ts of Getting Rid of Bean Bags
  • Dos –
    • 1. DO Clean your Bean Bag Before Disposal
    • 2. DO Choose an Environmentally Safe Process
    • 3. DO Use it to the Maximum Lifetime
  • Don’ts –
    • 1. DO NOT Burn the Bean Bag
    • 2. DO NOT Throw Bean Bags to Water Streams.
    • 3. DO NOT Throw Bean Bags in Your Trashcan
• Conclusion

Disposing of a Bean Bag Chair: What You Must Know

There are various things you need to consider for disposing of your bean bag chair. The main thing you need to know is, if the filling of your bean bag chair is a synthetic filling like EPS beads, it is not environmentally friendly. So you should not just throw it away. 

Once you are done using your bean bags, first of all, make sure the filling and the bean bag are clean. Wash all the bean bags thoroughly and use a disinfectant spray. The disinfectant spray will effectively remove germs and harmful bacteria.

Disposing of your bean bag is the last thing you should do. Before that, you need to make the maximum use of it. You may be able to reuse bean bag filling for some other work. Or you might be able to hand it to someone who needs a bean bag if it is still usable.

If you can not reuse the bean bag or the filling for any other purpose, you can dump it in a scrapyard. There are various scrap yards and landfills within each city; usually, these places are safe to dispose of furniture such as bean bags as long as you follow all the rules and regulations associated with such instances.

When you don’t know what the laws and regulations are in your area, you might end up with an environmental violation or legal issues when disposing of the beans that make up the bean bag chair.

So the best thing is to hand over your bean bag to the local recycling center. They will do the best to dispose of your bean bag properly. 

15 Ways to Get rid of an Old Bean Bag

1. Reuse Bean Bag to the Maximum Potential

Using your bean bag chair to the maximum is the best thing you could do. Do not throw it away before reaching its entire lifetime. When the bean bag goes flat, you can refill your bean bag by getting a separate bean bag filler only for the missing amount without removing the existing filling. 

When the outer cover gets damaged or faded, you can use the existing filling to the new bean bag cover; it makes a new bean bag for you. 

2. Gift your Bean Bag to Someone it Needs

Do not throw away your usable old bean bag when you buy a new bean bag. If you have a friend or relative who’s dreaming of a bean bag, you can give it away to him/her. Tell the person you plan to give it away that the bean bag has been used, but it is still in good condition. It might be better if you tell him/her to check the condition of your bean bag with his/her hands before accepting the gift.

Besides, you will not spend anything on the gift, and you can help a friend by giving this to him/her. The person who is receiving the gift might also like it and at least appreciate your kind act.

3. Donate Bean Bag to Charity

When the bean bag is still in usable condition, donate it to a charity center or shelter. It can give sleepless kids a comfortable place to sleep or for animals to take cover from the sun. If you are going to replace your bean bag with a new one, donating it will not harm you; in fact, it can help other people in need. 

Some organizations collect used items and donate them to needy people. When you donate your old bean bags, it will make you feel happy that others are using your old items, and those who are in need will be benefited from those items.

4. Sell Old Bean Bags as Used Items

When you plan to replace your bean bags, you can sell your old bean bags by mentioning that they are used items. Selling your old bean bags will make you some money you can use to buy new bean bags. You can try old-school-type garage sales or online seller platforms like ebay.com to sell your used bean bags.

5. Use Old Bean Bag Fillings for a Punching Bag

If you are a sporty person and have been looking for a low-budget punching bag that you can use to practice your boxing skills, this is the answer to your prayers. You can put together an old sock with some sand or pebbles to make your punching bag, or you can put in some beans from the old bean bags to fill them up. This bag will help you work on your punching accuracy, power and speed by practicing on an actual object rather than on air.

6. Reuse the Bean Bag Fillings to Make Pillows

You can fill different shapes of pillows from the bean bag fillings which removed from your bean bag. It again makes you feel the same effect as you felt from sitting on the bean bag chair. Your kids will love to hug these pillows while they sleep.

7. Use the Filling as Bedding for Pets

If you have pets at home, then bean bag fillings can make a comfortable bed for them. If your pet is fond of sleeping in the corner of the room or near the window, throw away the old cushion and fill its place with bean bag filling and it will definitely like it and always go there to sleep. 

8. Use Bean Bag Filling as Filling for Your Furniture

If you have an old chair and want to get a new one, but it is not sturdy enough, then you can use the filling to make it stronger. Add some filling to your old chair, and now you will have a solid and durable bean bag chair.

9. Reuse the Fillings to Make Soft Toys

If you have the skills to sew, you can make soft toys for your kids by filling removed bean bag fillers. You can even sell or donate these soft toys to needy people. Reusing the fillings for soft toys will reduce the harmful plastic, at least to some extent.

10. Make Small Bean Bags From It

Before throwing away the old filling from your bean bag, you can select the reusable filling among them. Use that good amount of filling to fill a new small bean bag. You can sew a bean bag cover for this filling. Then you can use this small bean bag as a gift for your children.

11. Make a Cool Box

EPS beads are a good heat insulator. Get an old box and fill the box with the EPS beads removed from the bean bag. Now you have a cool box. When traveling away, you can keep your chilled drinking bottles in this box to keep the cool of it for a more extended period. 

12. Use EPS beads in Artwork

There are several ways to create artwork from the removed EPS beads from your bean bag. But you need to be creative for this. But for the most part, you can use the beans to make wall hangings, bean bag pillowcases, decorative accessories, and more.

13. Use EPS Filling to Store Glassware

EPS beads are good at absorbing shock. So when you are storing your household glassware, fill the box with the removed EPS beads. They will protect your glassware from shocks. The beads will cushion the impact, preventing your glassware from having dents or cracks.

14. Use as a Footrest

If you need a footrest, then the bean bag can serve this purpose. Just remove the filling and make a shape of a platform from it. Then place it on the floor, and you have got yourself a footrest that is not hard as wood or plastic.

15. Handover to a Recycling Center

If you can’t find any of the above uses from the old bean bag, your best option is to hand it over to a recycling center. They will recycle the filling of the bean bag in a proper and environmentally friendly way. The professionals at the recycling center know how to recycle bean bags properly. So don’t make any mistakes by trying to recycle them yourself. Always seek professional help regarding this. 

Before handing over your bean bag to the recycling center, always clean the outer cover and the filling of the bean bag.

You can find the closest recycling center in your city by searching on google if you don’t know the exact place. When you contact them, they might come to your house to collect your bean bag for free.

The Dos and Don’ts of Getting Rid of Bean Bags

Dos –

1. DO Clean your Bean Bag Before Disposal

Always clean and wash your bean bag and the fillings before disposing of it. It doesn’t matter whether you hand it over to a recycling center or gifting to a friend. Always clean it before getting rid of it.

2. DO Choose an Environmentally Safe Process

There are many environmentally safe methods for disposing of bean bags, as mentioned above. So always select a proper and environmentally safe disposing method when you are getting rid of your old bean bag.

There are many eco-friendly public recycling centers that you can gift your bean bag. You can also find many companies in your area where they will check the fillings and make arrangements for disposal of your bean bag. 

3. DO Use it to the Maximum Lifetime

Do not throw away your bean bag without using it to the maximum potential. Even an extra year of using your bean bag will reduce another bean bag waste from the world for an extra year. It will be a generous gift for your future generation.

Don’ts –

1. DO NOT Burn the Bean Bag

Bean bags are filled with tiny beads of polystyrene. When these bean bags catch fire, they will produce a significant amount of thick and toxic smoke. So it is better to keep them away from fire. Burning bean bags is not an accepted disposing method at all. Burning bean bags can be the worst disposing method for a bean bag.

2. DO NOT Throw Bean Bags to Water Streams.

Bean bag fillers are mostly made of EPS beads. It is better not to throw these in water. If they are thrown in the water, the bean bags may dissolve and pollute the water bodies.

3. DO NOT Throw Bean Bags in Your Trashcan

Throwing into a trash can is the most common method of disposing of for most people. Many people think that they can get rid of their old bean bags by throwing them in the trash cans as they do with trash or any other waste material. 

But, this is not good environmentally. This garbage will not end up in recycling centers most of the time, and the bean bags will not go through a proper recycling process with this method.

Conclusion

Disposing bean bags are rugged, but with the proper knowledge and information, it is doable. While going about disposing of, it is crucial to follow the correct procedure, to make sure there will be no problems later on. 

There are different methods we can try out before throwing away our old bean bag. You can gift it to someone in need of a bean bag, or you can donate it to a charity. They will find a suitable place for your bean bag. As the final option, you can hand it over to a recycling center. They will professionally handle the disposing process of your bean bag.

When buying a new bean bag chair, we have to make sure that we dispose of the old one properly, so it does not cause any harmful effects in our environment.