When people head to beaches in the United Kingdom, they often bring along bodyboards to ride the waves. But the flimsy boards—which are made of a lightweight plastic called polystyrene—break easily. Their pieces often end up littering shorelines. Now an environmental group is reusing the wrecked boards for a sweet purpose—to help honeybees.
Last summer, volunteers with Keep Britain Tidy collected a whopping 480 discarded bodyboards from two beaches in the U.K. The organization donated most of the boards to a local farm to line its beehives. Heat can’t easily pass through polystyrene, making it an excellent insulator and great for keeping bees warm during the winter.