helmet - trash or recyclable?

[7rider]

How about making a planter out of it.

This picture is probably too small to see (gads! I wish I had gotten a better picture of it), but....
Forgive the lead-in here...but, just before Bike To Work Day (May, '08), we had a seminar at our fitness center on the benefits of bicycling, and biking to work. A nurse practitioner from our health center was a keynote speaker. As part of her presentation, she spoke about the benefits of wearing a helmet. As an example, she pulled out her helmet and proudly exclaimed that helmets need not be fancy or expensive to be effective, and in fact, here was her's....all of 15 year old!!! I quietly pulled her aside and reminded her that generally, a helmet, being not much more then glorified stryofoam, looses it's ability to absorb an impact over time and should be replace regularly....something like every 5 years.

So...come BTWD, we have our morning coffee and bagels for commuters, and in walks the NP with her old helmet on a shallow bowl...serving as the foundation for a lovely flower arrangement!! Titled: Things to Do With Your Old Helmet! It was GREAT!!