Are Garden Hoses Reyclable?
The short answer is no, they aren’t!
In fact, if you try to recycle your garden hose you may end up causing some serious damage. A garden hose can clog recycling machinery by wrapping around various cogs and mechanisms.
They are made of semi-recyclable materials, but the overall composition and structure of a hose pipe means that it is not recyclable. You would have to break down each individual component in the structure of the hose to recycle it properly – an impossible task.
There are alternatives to simply throwing it in the bin though, you can do many things with an old hose pipe that you have no use for – if it isn’t recyclable with your recycling collection or at your local recycling centre, try out these alternatives:
Fix it!
If you have a traditional hose pipe, you may have a few leaks along the hose itself, these can be fixed with some really strong glue or tape.
You could even cut the leaking portion of the hose pipe out of the length, and then reattach the ends together using a hose pipe connector!
This is great if you have a particularly expensive or high quality hose – I myself accidentally ran over my Hozelock hose with my car and the hose developed a leak where it had been pushed into some gravel. A bit of waterproof tape did the job perfectly!
If your hose is literally falling apart and cannot be saved, there are still more things you could do.
Crafts
Cutting it up could give you plenty of little lengths of rubber that could be used in arts and crafts by yourself or children – it could be used to make a fun piece of garden artwork!
A Soaker Hose
If you have a hose that has cost you £20-£30 that has holes in it, you could put even MORE holes in it and create a soaker hose!
Soaker hoses themselves cost £20-£30 or even more!
This is especially useful if you have a large garden or greenhouse – a soaker hose has lots of holes in it and when you turn on the tap, the water is released gently through the small holes along the length of the hose. So you can simply leave the water on gently for a bit during really hot weather and give everything a good soaking.
Supports
You can cut off lengths of hose to use as plant supports. This is especially good for larger plants, if you use rope or string it could dig into the trunk or stem and cause serious damage to the plant if it is very windy or the plant grows suddenly. A length of hose will support the plant and be more “cushioning” to the trunk and stems.
Or, you could just put it in the bin – then it would end up in landfill and that would be a real shame!