You’ve seen the EPA’s “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” mantra aimed at bringing awareness to the importance of saving energy and natural resources. Recycling your old aluminum gutters is the best way to save energy, reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfills, and help conserve natural resources. When you recycle your worn out aluminum gutters, you help save more than 90% of the energy that’s required to make the same amount from raw aluminum.
According to The Aluminum Association, aluminum is the most recycled, most recyclable, and most valuable material found in everyday recycling bins. If your aluminum rain gutters have served you well but you’re considering replacing them, you’re likely looking for the most responsible way to discard them. Spout Gutter Pros shares how to reduce, reuse, and recycle your old aluminum gutters.
Recycling Aluminum Gutters
Recycling is one of the most efficient and responsible ways to dispose of aluminum gutters. Because aluminum is 100% recyclable, close to 75% of the aluminum ever produced is still in use today. There are several ways to recycle your aluminum gutters, including:
Your Municipal or Local Recycling Agency
- Your Municipal Recycling Pick-up. Call the municipal recycling company that picks up your recycling and ask if you can leave your gutters on the curb on recycling pick-up day. Some companies will only pick up what is inside your blue bins while others will gladly pick up anything that is reasonably recyclable. Because recycled aluminum more than pays for the cost of its collection, it’s likely your local recycling company will be willing to pick it up.
- A Local Recycling Facility. If for some reason your municipal recycling pick-up company won’t take your aluminum gutters, it’s almost certain your local recycling facility will. Give them a call and arrange for pick up. If they don’t offer pick-up service, you’ll need to take the gutters to the facility.
Your Local Scrapyard
Scrap yards take aluminum gutters for recycling and most will even pay you on a per pound basis.
- Get Paid for Your Old Gutters. If you’d rather get paid for recycling your aluminum gutters, you can take them to your local scrapyard.
- Ask About Pick-Up Service. If you don’t have a vehicle that can carry lengths of old aluminum guttering, ask if the scrap yard has a pick-up service and what the pick-up fee is.
Ideas for Reducing and Reusing Aluminum Gutters
Using your old aluminum gutters for other purposes reduces the need to buy new products. In turn, you’ll reduce the amount of pollution and waste that needs to be recycled. From garden and patio projects to use inside your home – yes, inside! – here are some win-win ways to reduce and reuse your old aluminum gutters.
1. Planters
Aluminum gutters make ideal planters for flowers, herbs, or veggies. They look especially charming when you attach the gutters along a deck or patio railing. You may have shaken your fist at your gutters when they were leaking, but now, you’ll want them to leak because those old holes and cracks will be ideal for drainage.
2. Seed Protectors
Just planted some seeds? How handy to simply take a length of old aluminum gutter and place it over your newly planted seeds or seedlings when you suspect the weather will turn cold.
3. Garden Supplies Holder
A piece of gutter attached to the side of a garden shed makes a unique holder for small garden tools like clippers and trowels and supplies like garden gloves and garden tape.
4. Garden Edging
Recycle your old aluminum rain gutters into edging a lawn or a planting bed. You can place them on their sides, keep them upright, or place them upside down, depending on your preference. Placed upright, fill them with soil and plant small bedding plants for additional flair.
5. Art Supplies Holder
Kids will love to keep their crayons, markers, and art supplies in a dedicated length of aluminum gutter.
6. Book Shelves
Enjoy the industrial look? Old corroded aluminum gutters make a distinct statement when attached to a wall to hold everything from books, magazines, records, CDs, and more. When secured to a bathroom wall, they can be convenient and stylish holders for cosmetics and bathroom supplies.
7. Photo Ledge
If all the surfaces around your house are crammed with photos, an old gutter can make an attractive and unusual photo ledge.
8. Shoe Rack
Is your mudroom or entryway a collection spot for an array of boots and shoes? Attach some old aluminum gutter lengths to your walls to get the shoes off the floor. Each family member can have their own gutter to store their shoes.
9. Beer and Wine Cooler
Convenient and unusual – a length of aluminum gutter securely attached to the end of a picnic or patio table – or even the deck railing – makes an oh-so-cool receptacle for keeping beer and wine ice cold. Place the bottles in the gutter and pack ice around them.
10. Cable Organizer
Here’s a surprising gutter hack! Mount the gutter under your desk and organize all your computer wires and cables into the gutter so that they’re up off the floor, out of sight, and less likely to collect dust bunnies.
11. Craft Room Organizer
Craft supplies pile up quickly and there’s not always an easy way to keep them organized – that is until you attach a length of gutter to your wall. Now you have an ideal place to keep categories of supplies organized such as skeins of yarn, spools of ribbons, and more.
As Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” With so many ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle old aluminum gutters, it’s easy to be a thoughtful, committed citizen and avoid putting an unnecessary burden on the environment.
As you’re looking into replacing and recycling your worn-out aluminum gutters, Spout Gutter Pros can quickly connect you with trustworthy aluminum gutter contractors. We know they’re trustworthy because we vet every gutter contractor in our network to ensure they’re licensed, insured, and completely reputable. Don’t spend needless time searching all over the web. Spout Gutter Pros is the #1 resource for rain gutter professionals.
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Whatever your rain gutter needs, Spout Gutter Pros can provide professionals for everything from gutter maintenance to expert installation. Get a free quote right now!
