How to Dispose of Or Make Use of Old Keys that Accumulate Around Your Home?

I would almost be willing to bet that if I went to your home and opened a utility drawer in the kitchen, foyer or study that I would find at least one old key in one of those drawers. It just seems to be a fact of life that no matter how useless an old key is they have trouble finding their way out the door. They may even be more popular to keep than dead batteries. Well, I am not one to criticize without offering a solution. So here are some interesting uses and responsible disposal methods for those old keys that are accumulating in various places around your home.

• Recycle them

It’s always good to start out with the most obvious choice. Keys bare made of metal so it will take them hundreds and maybe even thousands of years for them to break down in a landfill. Since metal can also be recycled, then why not just throw them in with your other recyclables instead. Sure, keys are small items but they are just as environmentally unfriendly as larger size pieces of metal. So do your part to make the world a little greener and recycle your old keys instead of just throwing them in the trash for disposal.

• Take them to your local home improvement store

Maybe you don’t want to take the time or go to the trouble of taking your old keys to a recycling center. Then why not let someone else recycle those old keys for you. That’s exactly what any place that makes new keys will do for you. Home improvement centers, hardware stores and other places that routinely make keys will always be happy to take your old keys off your hands. This is especially true if you let them make you some new ones at the same time. So the next time you go to one of these key makers, throw your old keys in a jar and take them with you so you can get rid of them without much extra effort on your part.

• Give them to charity

You may want to consider giving your old keys to a charity. Yes, it’s true, just like there are charities that can make good use of old household items, so too are their charities that make money for a cause by taking peoples old and unused keys. One charity that comes to mind is keysforkindness.com. They actually raise a lot of money each year for several different charitable causes just by accepting people’s old keys.

Finding Uses for Old Keys

Sometimes you may actually be able to make good use of your old keys. Here are some examples of that.

• Use them for arts and crafts

You may raise your eyebrows a little at this one but so too did the people that first saw art made out of such things like bottle caps and silverware. Some of those artists laughed at their skeptics all of the way to the bank. The value of art is different in every person’s eyes and if you make arts and crafts out of your old keys, I pretty much guarantee someone will buy it. It may only be a few pennies but every great artist had to start somewhere.

• Let the kids play with them

I would never even think about letting anyone under the age of 5 years old play with old keys but older children will actually enjoy using your old keys. They can be just like mom and dad and use them in their toy cars and houses. Those old keys can actually be a great learning tool for your kids too. So if you want to provide a little spark for your kids’ imaginations, them go ahead and let them play with the keys that you no longer use.

• Sell them

Believe it or not some old keys actually have value much like old coins do. This is especially true of older skeleton type keys. So it is advisable to think twice before just tossing them in the garbage. Instead, take them to an antique dealer or pawnshop and get them appraised. Some old skeleton keys are worth hundreds of dollars and even more to collectors.

We previously mentioned that you should take the time to recycle your old keys. Why not take that even one step further. You can do that by gathering up all of your old keys and throw them into a small box.  When that box gets full enough you can take it to a scrap metal center that will pay you for what those keys weigh. It may not be much but you will be doing your part to help the environment and maybe make enough money to treat your kids to ice cream too.

Dispose of Your Old Keys Responsibly

Once again we cannot emphasize enough how important it is to dispose of your old keys in a manner that is safe and prudent. There is no good reason not to and once again you are doing your part to make the world a little cleaner and greener by doing such a simple task like this. So pick out your favorite ways that we mentioned to make use of or dispose of your old keys and practice them.