Like most of America, Ms. Cups and I are on the “meals delivered at home” kick. We don’t do it too too often, but when a deal comes up we’re there.
An unfortunate side effect of these is we have, like, 1000 of those freezer packs they’re send with. They’re great for picnics and all, but we don’t go on those. They’re also too big to fit in a lunch box. So I want to get rid of them because we have a small-ass freezer, but how do I get rid of them? I can’t imagine the gel material they’re made out of is that particularly healthy, so I don’t wanna just chuck it in the trash. But I honestly have no idea what else to do.
Mostly because it’s a gel that hardens into a colder-than-ice material, then melts into a liquid form again, just to be refrozen into the gel again.
That kind of black witch magic triggers my “probably not good to sit in a landfill and biodegrade without causing some kind of mutant rat or fish or something” alarm.
To be honest, I’m unclear which part of this seems like black witch magic. It sounds like you’re talking about something with a freezing point lower than water, which is a gel at warmer temperatures. Useful, yes, but hardly astounding.
Better to be too careful than not careful enough. Darn good question in the OP, and I’m happy to learn the stuff isn’t dangerously toxic, because…well…I didn’t know either!
How about a soup kitchen? These places sometimes get refrigerated or frozen food, and these would be great to give out to the clients who may not be able to get home right away or do not have a fridge or freezer but can eat the item when stored this way in a box before it goes bad. I’d recommend calling first, of course.
When I worked at the hospital, I saved them for a lady I knew who ran a CSA with her husband.
(Community supported agriculture, where people buy a share of a farm)
Look, you’ll be thankful for them the next time you have to bury a body.
They keep the smell down in the trunk & help to keep the corpse from shifting on curves.
(…just kidding…)
Folks who are living on the edge often don’t have reliable refrigeration. It’s really helpful if they can keep fresh food good in a cooler for a couple of days.