Can You Recycle Hair Dryers?
If you have ever thought about the time you are going to spend on getting rid of water from your hair, you will know how useful hair dryers are. These devices are the first option that comes to the mind of every individual and hairstylist as far as hair drying is concerned.
They are usually of two types- the rigid-hood and the handheld dryer. While the former is made with a plastic dome into which a person’s head is fit to dry hair, the latter has a brush hair and it is often used to add volume to hair. These devices or tools are used to blow hot air over wet damp hair in order to get rid of the water contained in the hair.
Due to their popularity and the important role they play in getting hair dried within the shortest space of time, they are produced in large quantities and distributed across every region. This alone tells us that they could be a potential cause of pollution to the environment if not handled properly.
Therefore, it is important that you know what to do with these tools once they are out of use. In this post, you will be exposed to several things you need to know about hair dryers and what to do with them when they are out of use.
Specifically, you will know if hair dryers are recyclable, whether they are bad for the environment, and whether they are bad for your hair. You will also see if you can throw hair dryers in the bin. Without a doubt, there’s a lot to gain here. Hence, we say take a sit back and follow through as we provide answers to these questions about hair dryers.
Are Hair Dryers Recyclable?
This is one of the frequently asked questions as far as hair dryers are concerned. Many people have argued that since most electrical items and tools can be recycled, hair dryers should not be an exception. If this is your thought, you are not mistaken.
Hair dryers are generally recyclable. By recycling your hair dryers, you are indirectly keeping the material and items out of the landfill and giving them an additional and useful purpose. Hair dryers contain a large number of scrap metals. Due to these compositions, they can be easily recycled.
Though these tools cannot be placed in a recycling bin, they are often accepted for recycling anywhere metal scrap is assembled. After collecting the metal scrap from the hair dryers, the metal scrap recyclers go-ahead to remove the metals and use them to make other metallic tools and equipment. Cars, construction materials, wires, home equipment and appliances are the various items that can be made from this metal scrap.
The scrap metal contained in hair dryers can be of different types, though. There are those made with metal such as aluminum, copper, brass or steel. These metals are required in large quantities to make electrical appliances and tools, and your hair dryers can be a secondary source. Hence, when you use your hair dryer, do not throw it away after use, gather them together and get them to the metal scrap recyclers to recycle them.
Are Hair Dryers Bad For The Environment?
This is another question we need to proffer answers to. Well, the answers are not far-fetched. It is generally known that most electrical appliances and items are dangerous to the health of humans as well as to their environment. Hair dryers are no exception. Hair dryers pose a lot of environmental hazards to our health as well as our immediate surrounding. This is why it is important that you don’t throw your hair dryers away when they are not in use anymore.
Recent research has shown that compared to other electrical appliances in the home such as refrigerators, hair dryers consume a large amount of heat and energy. This is the reason they are often responsible for emitting or producing carbon footprints of approximately 56 lbs annually.
Apart from the emission of this dangerous gas, hair dryers also pose other threats to our environment due to the materials of which they are made. These materials include metals, plastics and other toxic materials. The largest impact of hair dryers on the environment arises from their decomposition after disposal.
The majority of us are aware of the environmental challenges and threats caused by plastics. The production and making of plastics are often quite messy due to the large quantities of petroleum materials used. This results in the emission of a lot of harmful fumes. It is important that you know that rather than pre-production, it is what happens after manufacturing that harms the environment the most. Plastics are non-biodegradable materials, and for that reason, hair dryers can stay on the landfill for decades even centuries without decomposing.
Unlike other types of plastics, plastics used in the making and production of hair dryers are particularly thicker, harder and heat resistant thereby making it much more difficult for these materials to break down. This poses a lot of threats to man, wildlife and the environment at large.
Are Hair Dryers Bad For Your Hair?
As pressing as this question may look, the answer is quite apt and simple. Using hair dryers on your head especially if frequent can be dangerous to the condition of your hair. After learning about the dangers of these tools, you might consider not using them to dry your hair again. However, if you do the blowing carefully and correctly, it will do your hair no harm.
Using the hair dryer to blow your hair when it is relatively dry can result in dullness, brittleness, breakage and excessive dryness. This is why it is recommended that you place the hair dryer some distance away from your head while drying. This will reduce the amount of heat that touches the scalp of your head. You can as well use a diffuser attachment in order to spread the heat uniformly.
Moreover, it is essential that you set your hair dryer to avoid damaging your hair. Irrespective of the type of hair dryer that you are using, make sure that you do not use the highest heat setting when drying your hair. If the heat setting is so high, it will hurt your scalp and in turn cause severe pain to the head. Hence, instead of the high heat setting, you can often use the medium heat setting to avoid harming your hair. You can as well stick to a low heat setting. It is the surest way to avoid hurting your scalp.
Another important thing you need to do to avoid damaging your hair is to make sure that you dry 80 to 85% of the water contained in your hair before using the hair dryer. This will limit the amount of blowing you are going to do; hence, you do your hair less harm.
If you apply all these, you will discover that you can safely use your hair dryers without any consequences. You understand how precious your hair is to you, so don’t hesitate to take the right decision to protect it.
Can You Throw An Old Hair Dryer In The Bin?
Putting your hair dryer in the bin can be very unhealthy. This is because of the several health hazards and environmental challenges associated with these appliances and tools. Due to a large number of scrap metals contained in hair dryers, it is highly dangerous to put them in bins when they are out of use.
These scrap metals are toxic both to humans and their resources. The environment becomes vulnerable to toxic substances and gases due to these scrap metals. Hair dryers are also made with plastics. Plastics are generally non-biodegradable and do not decompose even after several years.
Plastics can spend centuries in landfills without decaying. Plastics used in the production of hair dryers have been said to be relatively thicker, harder, and heat resistant compared to other types of plastics used in the home. This makes it even more difficult and complex for these materials to break down easily. Hence, it is safer to deliver your hair dryers to scrap metal recyclers for recycling than to put them in your bin.
Recent research has shown that hair dryers produce very toxic gases. They produce and emit carbon dioxide in large quantities. By placing or putting your old hair dryers in the bin, you are making yourself, your home and the environment susceptible to unpleasant and unhealthy gases. This is why recycling is the best option for these hair drying tools.
How Do You Dispose Of Old Hair Dryers?
It is vital that you dispose of your old hair dryer properly. Inability to dispose of them properly can put your health as well as that of your environment at risk. Hence, proper disposal of hair dryers that are no longer in use is a great step towards ensuring that your environment is safe and habitable. Proper disposal of these materials can save you from the challenges and threats associated with keeping them in your bin.
How then do you dispose of your old hair dryers? It is simple. If you have been reading through from the beginning of this post, you will have some ideas about how to go about disposing of your old hair dryers.
1. Give Them To The Scrap Collectors
You can collect the different hair dryers that you have together and give them to the metal scrap recyclers. The recyclers will go ahead to recycle the scrap metals and make other useful tools and appliances out of them. You do not need to put them in the bin due to the environmental risks and hazards associated with them.
2. Donate Them
You must have heard that nothing is totally useless if they are still operational. This is true as far as hair dryers are concerned. If your hair dryers are still in good condition, you can donate them to charity organizations.
3. Gift Them
Hair dryers are tools that many people are willing to have. You can make this dream come true for them by gifting them your old hair dryers. However, you have an obligation to ensure that those hair dryers are still in great use. This is important since you are not only getting rid of the hair dryers but giving your loved ones the opportunity to reuse them.
4. Send To Recycling Stations
Proper disposal of old hair dryers is not complete without making sure that they get recycled. If they don’t get recycled, they will probably spend decades and even centuries in the landfill without decomposing. This is why you should check with your local recycling stations to recycle your hair dryers.
Conclusion
Hair dryers are important if you keep them in good shape. However, more dangers and threats come with them if you fail to dispose them of properly. It is very essential that you do not throw them in the bin after you are done using them, rather, it is recommended that you get them collected by scrap metal recyclers to get recycled. By getting rid of these materials from your home through proper means of disposal, you will create an enabling surrounding free from health hazards and environmental challenges.
References:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wellandgood.com/do-hair-dryers-damage-your-hair/amp/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/theateamuga.wordpress.com/2014/01/23/lifecycle-of-hairdryer/amp/