Five reasons to hold on to those silica gel packets.

[DGUtley]

Five reasons to hold on to those silica gel packets.


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If you’ve bought shoes, torn into beef jerky, or taken certain medication recently, you have likely pulled out at least one tiny silica gel packet. After briefly wondering why your new backpack contained a warning-labeled squishy little pillow, you probably chucked it in the garbage with the rest of the packaging.


Yet those silica gel packets are as useful as they are ubiquitous, and you can give them a second, third, or fourth life instead of sending them directly to the landfill. But why are the tiny bags in so many products? And can you reuse them? “Overall it seems that when they do not contain cobalt chloride, silica gel packets are relatively safe to use,” said Baechler. Nevertheless, you should avoid reusing these packets for any food-adjacent uses just in case.


Even if food-related uses are probably out, there are still plenty of ways to safely reuse the desiccant and keep it out of landfills and waterways for a bit longer after reactivating the packets.


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[Peter1469]

I see the powdered version more often. But you can't reuse those if they are no longer dry.

[FindersKeepers]

I have a type of silica I add to the potting soil in outdoor pots. It absorbs water and slowly releases it to the plant's roots, so there's less of a chance they dry out between waterings. Most of the time, it's not noticeable, but if we get a lot of rain, the silica swells up, and it kind of glistens.

[jigglepete]

I have a type of silica I add to the potting soil in outdoor pots. It absorbs water and slowly releases it to the plant's roots, so there's less of a chance they dry out between waterings. Most of the time, it's not noticeable, but if we get a lot of rain, the silica swells up, and it kind of glistens.

One of our customers miss read the instructions on the water chrystals and way over did it...every time it rained his vegie garden looked like an erupting volcano (but his garden never dried out) LOL.