Tons of people buy mascara every single day around the world, no matter what the state of the economy is, because it’s a staple in the beauty regimen of most people that wear makeup. When the allotted three months of opened mascara has passed, or maybe once it’s dried out and is coming out in clumps,, most people throw out the whole tube, wand included.
When you or someone you live with goes to throw out the next tube of mascara, think twice before tossing the wand with it. Instead, consider donating your old wand to Appalachian Wildlife Refuge, a rescue in North Carolina, or another wildlife organization that rehabilitates animals because they can put those wands to use.
At Appalachian, the wands have the best job: they’re used on small animals to remove fly eggs, larva, nits and fleas from their fur. They’re perfect because the bristles are close together and soft enough to use on the delicate fur on baby animals. The refuge has posted adorable photos on their social media platforms of the wands being put to use, most specifically on ducklings and a baby opossum.
Appalachian created an entire page on their website and a campaign dedicated to raising awareness about the use of the wands and it’s called Wands for Wildlife. If you want to donate, all you have to do is clean off your old wand, fill out the form on their web page, and mail it in. Since this refuge has gotten so much attention lately from their campaign, even earning a pledge from NBC’s Blacklist makeup artists to donate as many wands as they can, you can also see if a wildlife center near you could use these wands.
Search online to find refuges that are near to you or, if you already follow a few wildlife centers that you like, contact them to ask if they use the wands and, if not, you can ask if they know about how other refuges are using them.
Of course, if you live in a makeup-free household but still want to help, you can donate other items to Appalachian or any wildlife refuge that they are constantly in need of, such as baby wipes, paper towels, and dishwashing liquid.
If you would like to learn more about the work that Appalachian Wildlife Refuge does, you can visit their website here. To follow them on Facebook, visit their page here.
