Getting new window treatments is exciting—you get a new look in your room, as well as the other functionality you were looking for, like light and privacy control or energy efficiency. But as exciting as the new is, there’s still the issue of how to deal with the old. At Window Treats serving Holmdel, we like to offer our customers some eco-friendly ways to handle old window fashions.
If Your Treatments Still Work
If your window fashions are in working order, don’t throw them in a landfill! Instead, find an organization or an individual to donate them to. After all, they may be old to you, but they’ll be new and helpful to someone else. You could consider donating to Habitat For Humanity Restore, Salvation Army or Goodwill Stores, or friends or college students.
If Your Treatments Are Unusable
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.
- Aluminum Blinds. Aluminum or metal blinds are the easiest window treatment to recycle because the infrastructure to recycle metals such as copper and steel is already in place. Before you take your aluminum blinds to the recycling center or scrap yard, clean the slats and remove all the strings, so the slats aren’t attached to the headrail.
- Wood, Faux Wood, or Woven Wood Blinds. 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. Get creative with ways to use their components (an after-school program might want them for art projects, for example). You can always look to recycle the hardware.
- Fabric Roman Shades and Draperies. Cut the fabric away from the hardware and donate it to a clothing donation center like Salvation Army or Goodwill or to a school or after-school program for craft projects. Recycle the hardware.
- Honeycomb or Cellular Shades. 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.
Recycling Ideas in the Middletown, Holmdel New Jersey Area
Window Treats, Inc., is a service-oriented business specializing in custom blinds, shades, shutters, draperies, top treatments and window treatment motorization options.
We serve residential and commercial customers throughout New Jersey including Middletown, Holmdel, Rumson, Colts Neck, Fair Haven, Little Silver, Long Branch, Elberon, Deal, Shrewsbury, Allenhurst, Spring Lake, Jersey Shore, and all of Monmouth County, NJ.