What Happens After You Get New Window Coverings?
At Shutter Guy serving Charleston, our customers often ask what they can do with their old window treatments after they replace them with something new. These days, many people are keen on not filling up landfills, so it’s a very important question. Read on for some tips on what might work for your old coverings.
Donate Your Old Window Coverings
If your blinds or shades are in working order, the best thing is to donate them. You could consider Habitat for Humanity Restore, Salvation Army, Goodwill Stores, friends, or students. If there is no hope and your blinds and shades are broken or in bad shape, here are some tips on where to recycle or creative ideas of what to do with them.
Recycle Your Old Window Coverings
You could start by looking online at places like Earth911 for suggestions of places to recycle or safely dispose of your window treatments and window treatment hardware. Or, if you already know of a place that recycles metals—such as copper or steel—you could check to see if they’ll take your aluminum blinds. Before you take your aluminum blinds to the recycling center or scrap yard, you should remove all the strings, freeing the slats from the headrail. You may also want to give them a quick cleaning. If you’ve got fabric shades, the fabric might be useful to someone. Cut the fabric from the hardware and then check with a clothing donation center to see if they could use it.
Get Creative
Unfortunately, if your wood or woven wood blinds have been stained, painted, or treated or your faux wood blinds have PVC in them, they can’t be recycled. If they’re damaged, find a school or after-school program that might be able to use them for art projects. Similarly, honeycomb shades are typically made from polyester fabric, which is already made from recycled materials. Unfortunately, there is no technology available today to turn the fabric back into a usable item to be recycled again. The best thing to do is to cut the fabric off the headrail and take it to a school or after-school program for craft projects or try your hand at reusing the fabric yourself at home.
Recycling Ideas in the Charleston SC Area
The window treatment professionals at the Shutter Guy are trained to assist you in the selection of the right treatment for YOUR windows! Our knowledgeable and experienced staff knows how to ask the right questions to ensure your new window treatments exceed your expectations. We service Charleston, SC and surrounding areas including, Isle of Palms, Sullivan’s Island, Folly Beach, Mt Pleasant, Georgetown, Myrtle Beach, Kiawah Island, Seabrook Island, Awendah, Goose Creek, and the “Low Country.” Contact us to schedule a consultation, and be sure to check out our Calling Out Cancer program to see how a percentage of your purchase with us goes toward cancer support and research.
