This Use for Avocado Pits Is the Best Thing I’ve Seen on the Internet All Month
As an elder millennial, I am morally obligated to enjoy avocado toast. (See also: skinny jeans and side parts.) But as any boomer will tell you; all that avocado toast can become a pricey problem.
I’m being cheeky here — I seriously doubt that a love of avos is causing financial strife for any 20- or 30-something. But there is one byproduct of homemade avocado toast that I’m interested in: This beyond-creative repurposing of their pits and skins.
In a recent Reel, the Instagram account @shelbizlee shared a fun way to make your avocado scraps go the distance: Shelbi, who I like to consider my sustainability BFF, used them as a natural clothing dye. Shelbi’s full of actually-doable tips, like how to store food so it lasts longer. So when she claimed to have an unexpected use for avocado pits and skins, I was all ears.
Shelbi saved up a haul of avocado scraps (she kept them in the freezer until she had enough), then boiled them in a stockpot of water. After draining off the scraps, she created a tie-dye pattern on a white loungewear set, and soaked the pieces in the avocado dye. After 24 hours, her clothes looked gorgeous. The fabric was patterned in a peachy-pink spiral design, and the color from the avocados was both muted and dreamy; a hue that felt very “of the moment.”
Of course, after boiling the avocados, they still must be discarded — that’s where composting comes in. I think the wisdom of this tip is less about food waste and more about clothing sustainability. In a world of fast fashion and throwaway threads, I’m attracted to methods that breathe new life into pieces I already own. Heck, I could even wear it to my next brunch date.
Would you try avocado pit dye?