Search Your Home For Pennies and Reuse Them!
Today is the day that the Royal Canadian Mint officially stops distributing the penny to financial institutions. Even though distribution has stopped, there are still 35 billion pennies still in circulation!
So, what do we do with all these pennies ?
They remain legal tender but it is now to the discretion of individual businesses as to whether or not they will accept them. If the business does accept them, they then get passed onto the banks, end up at the Canadian Mint and from there they will be melted down and recycled.
If you don’t want your pennies to end up as recycled metal, here are some interesting and helpful ideas on how to reuse our beloved penny.
1. Place them in the hems of your curtains to make them hang smoothly.
2. Put them in soil to increase the pH levels of soil for hydrangeas.
3. Drill holes in them and string them together like a wind chime.
4. Use as replacement checkers.
5. Add one to tulips in a vase and it will prevent them from drooping.
6. Lay them down as flooring in your home or business.
7. Drill holes in them and use them as brass washers to help re-hang loose woodwork in your house. (brass washers cost about 4 cents each!)
8. Use as a spacer when laying tile.
9. Donate them to organizations such as Free The Children for their We Create Change campaign.
10. Make them into jewellery!
11. Need a screwdriver? Use a penny!
12. You could make them into a penny stack.
13. Toss them in fountains to make a lot of wishes.
(Make sure that you are permitted to throw in the fountain and there aren’t any live fish in it!)
We would love to hear your ideas about what you will do with all your pennies !