Perhaps you’ve placed an order and they’re standing right outside your front door. Shiny. Pretty. Insulated bags loaded with yummy items.
Silvery plastic padded bags are increasingly common in when food delivery and pick-up services for refrigerated and frozen items. While they seem to work nicely for delivering frosty food, the empties deserve attention. We’re doing just that. We’re featuring useful ideas for repurposing them as well as focusing attention on how they factor into the plethora of unnecessary plastic waste.
Amazon has introduced more sustainable packaging for U.S. grocery delivery of frozen and chilled foods from Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market. Amazon reports the packaging is made from recycled paper, layered for insulation, and curbside recyclable, but research shows that few municipal recycling programs are able to recycle the material successfully.
Repurposing
Ideas for reusing and upcycling the foil insulated bags are plentiful. They are useful as-is — especially when you need a padded pouch. For example:
- Lunch bag: Designed to protect your food delivery, they can help keep your lunch fresh.
- Padded storage: Store or pack up dishes and other items that need extra protection. You can also slice into sheets and layer between plates.
- Gift bag: Simply pop in a present. The sparkly silver exterior looks fancy and the padding helps protect the contents. Use it in its original form or pull out your scissors and devise a different shape, such as a tall thin sack for wrapping organic wine.
For other projects, they’re quite versatile and a snap to work with.
- Forehead cushion for DIY face shields: Use instead of foam. Roll a section of the padded pouch into a log shape and affix it with glue or tape to the top of the shield. Tailor the thickness of the log to adjust the distance between your face and the transparent plastic shield. See an example of an easy DIY face shield from Woodbrew on YouTube.
- Gift bows: Instead of paper, use pieces of the pouch. WikiHow has examples of DIY gift bows.
- DIY rain shield: Stow a few empties in your vehicle. If you forget your umbrella, use it as a rain shield for yourself, or your laptop.
- Party decoration: Slice into strips and form a garland of interlocking loops with a stapler or tape — an ideal project for kids.
- Portable seat padding: This makes a lightweight portable seat for picnics, sports events, or other activities when you want to protect your tush.
- Art projects: Use the material instead of paper or fabric for such ventures as DIY picture frames, jewelry, and wallets.
- Costumes: Reuse the shiny material for decorating Halloween accessories and costumes.
- Make a mailing packet: Why toss cold food delivery insulation when you can make padded mailing packets from them?
The innovative folks at UpCycle Creative Reuse Center in Virginia shared some other ideas, including:
- Sun shield in your vehicle
- Wrap-around insulation for cans of soda, beer, or other frosty beverages
Responsible Disposal
Amazon provides information on its different packaging types and directions for recycling or disposing of each type.
Foil insulation is not recyclable and should be put in your garbage bin,” the website states.
While traditional household recycling services likely won’t accept the bags, TerraCycle does. Purchase a Zero Waste Box for recycling shipping materials (current cost is $113 to $263). When you return the box to TerraCycle, the material is sorted and processed into raw materials for producing recycled plastic items, such as shipping pallets, composite decking, and recycling bins.
Reducing Insulated Foil Packaging
From our experience ordering groceries from Amazon Prime, there’s no obvious platform for requesting paper bags instead of these silver insulated bags when frozen and refrigerated items are on the shopping list.
We’ve emailed the question to Amazon’s media relations office but did not receive a reply.
Environmental advocates and lawmakers want businesses and manufacturers to assume more responsibility for single-use plastic products and encourage them to offer sustainable solutions.
“It isn’t an issue of proper waste management or finding alternative uses for things. Forty percent of the plastic that is clogging our earth is single-use plastic like these stupid bubble wrap pouches,” says Sarah Pierpont, executive director of the New Mexico Recycling Coalition.
A petition on change.org asks Amazon to offer other options to customers. It states,
… customers are unable to request minimal plastic bags for produce. Other grocery delivery services, such as Instacart, use paper bags and are responsive to requests for minimal plastic bag use. Tell Amazon that you want the option of sustainable grocery delivery!”
Over 10,500 people have signed so far.
More Ideas: Reusing and Upcycling Cold Packs
Meanwhile, another cold food delivery item, the gel-filled cold pack, has introduced more opportunities for reuse.
If your food deliveries arrive packed in gel or ice packs, you’re not alone. Meal kits, grocery services, and medical shipments use millions of them every year, and most aren’t recyclable through curbside programs. The good news is that they’re designed to last, and a little creativity can keep them out of the landfill for a long time. Here are a few smart ways to reuse or upcycle those chilly companions.
1. Keep Groceries, Lunches, or Baked Goods Cool
Cold packs make dependable companions for grocery trips or transporting homemade treats. Once Upon a Farm suggests keeping a few in your freezer so they’re ready to slip into an insulated tote when you head out to shop or pack up baked goods for a friend. Their advice is simple but effective — a single ice pack can prevent an entire bag of produce or dairy from spoiling on the ride home.
2. Donate to Local Food or Farm Programs
If your freezer is starting to look like an ice-pack museum, pass a few along. Universities and nonprofits have found ways to repurpose thousands of these packs for community benefit. UAB’s Green Labs program, for instance, collects gel packs from campus labs and donates them to local farmers markets and meal-delivery organizations. Before tossing yours, check with nearby food banks, CSAs, or farmers’ markets — they often welcome clean, intact cold packs for reuse.
3. Turn Them into First-Aid Cold Compresses
Clean, leak-free cold packs are ready-made for the first-aid kit. Greenfield ESG notes that gel packs work well for icing sports injuries or sore muscles. Designate a few for medical use and keep them in a labeled freezer bin — just wrap one in a thin towel before applying it to the skin. It’s an easy, zero-waste way to extend the life of a pack while avoiding single-use disposable ice wraps.
4. Cool Your Pets on Hot Days
Humans aren’t the only ones who appreciate a little relief from the heat. According to GreenBagPickup, a thawed gel pack wrapped in a towel or pillowcase can “provide relief to pets during hot weather.” Tuck one under your dog or cat’s bedding on warm afternoons — just make sure it’s sealed and never punctured. It’s a simple, electricity-free cooling solution for your four-legged companions.
5. Use Gel to Help Garden Soil Retain Moisture
If you’re feeling adventurous, you can repurpose the gel itself. Ethical Waste reports that some non-toxic gel fillings can be safely mixed into soil to improve moisture retention. Always check the manufacturer’s label first — not all gels are plant-friendly — but when it’s safe, the absorbent polymer acts like a mini reservoir that slowly releases water to roots. This works especially well for container gardens or hanging planters that dry out quickly.
6. Repurpose into Weights or Sensory Play Items
Finally, defrosted cold packs can play a second life in the craft or camping world. GreenBagPickup suggests reusing them as soft weights or “bean bags.” You can sew a few into durable fabric sleeves for kids’ sensory play, or use them to stabilize tent poles, photography tripods, or canopy corners when the wind picks up. Once you start experimenting, you’ll realize the gel’s flexibility is an asset in more ways than one.
From kitchens to gardens, community food programs to kids’ crafts, insulated bags and cold packs can live surprisingly long, useful second lives. The trick is simple: think of them as materials, not waste. With a little creativity—and a freezer shelf dedicated to reuse—you can keep these everyday items out of the landfill and in steady circulation.
Editor’s note: Originally published on September 14, 2020, this article was updated with additional insulated bag and a collection of cold pack reuse ideas in November 2025.
