Are Garden Hoses Recyclable?

Garden hoses are one of the most important materials you need to have if you love gardening. A garden hose is specifically perfect for lawn care, gardening, along landscaping.

But what happens if your garden hoses are damaged or broken?

Can garden hoses be recycled? Should we just throw them away?

Although you might think you can help mother earth by recycling these garden hoses, you may be doing more harm than good.

Garden hoses happen to be one of the most destructive things in recycling facilities once you toss them in the recyclables bin.

What Are the Types of Garden Hose?

There are different available materials of garden hoses to choose from. These include polyurethane hoses, vinyl hoses, and rubber hoses.

Polyurethane hoses – This type of garden hose is lightweight and with less tendency to kink. However, it can be a little stiff so it may not be as bendable as the other types of hoses.

Coiling it after use may be a little difficult too.

Vinyl hoses – This type of garden hose is typically the least costly one. It is known to be strong and durable because it is strengthened with multiple plies of nylon or cording mesh.

Vinyl hoses are stiff and may be harder to coil, and they tend to kink repeatedly at the same spot.

Rubber hoses – This type of garden hose maybe a little heavier than the others, but it can be used for a long time. It is also easy to coil and pliable.

The kinks on this type of hose can easily be undone and it does not leave a crease after.

Can Garden Hoses Be Recycled?

When you find your garden hoses torn and worn out, putting them in the recycling bin is perhaps one of the worst things you can do.

Garden hoses are known as “tanglers” in the recycling world.

If you are wondering what tanglers are, these are the things that may cause great disruption in recycling facilities.

Other things labeled as tanglers include chains, cords, and ropes.

Recycling facilities see a lot of tanglers present in the recycling bin every day. It disrupts because they form tangles in the equipment being used.

This leads to increased mechanical issues for the equipment and machinery in the facility. More importantly, it also causes safety issues for the workers in the recycling facilities.

Tangled-up machinery and accidents would cause extra expense in the facilities, along with downtime until everything gets fixed.

This is why garden hoses are included in the top five list of most problematic tanglers found in a recycling facility.

What Are Others Ways to Reuse My Garden Hose?

Instead of dumping your garden hoses into the recycling bin, here are other ways to reuse your old but trust garden hose:

• Turn it into a doorstop – Cut a small piece of hose and place it firmly under your open door.
• Turn it into grip handles – Cut pieces of your worn-out hoses and place them in the metal handles of the buckets lying around your home. You can also place pieces of hose on the metal chains of your wings. Gripping and handling these things would be easier.
• Transform it into a soaker hose – You can easily do this by puncturing your old garden hose with holes.
• Do a make-shift cover – Cut your garden hose into smaller pieces and use it as a cover for the blade of your cutting tools such as saws.
• Use it to secure trees – Grab a small piece of hose and slide it over the rope that is used to secure the tree in place. Through this, the rope securing the tree would not cut into the tree.

However, if none of these options fit your situation, perhaps it is already time to dispose of your old garden hose.

Keep in mind that garden hoses must not be thrown in the recycling bin.

How Do I Take Care of My Garden Hose?

Since the disposal options of garden hoses that are eco-friendly are very limited, prolonging the life of your garden hoses is the best thing to do.

If you want your garden hoses to last a little longer, there many ways to extend their use:

• Consider spending a little more and invest in a good rubber hose.
• Refrain from yanking your garden hose to avoid the formation of kinks. Unkink it by unfolding the specific part so no creases will form.
• Store your garden hoses properly and place them on a rounded hanger. This helps avoid the formation of kinks.

Final Thoughts

Taking care of your garden hoses would not only do good for your pocket. It also avoids the unnecessary expenses that will be spent by the recycling facilities if you dump your garden hoses in the recycling bins.

But even if it is not recyclable, it can still be transformed into innovative uses.