Hair dryers are great for drying and styling your hair; but not so great for the environment. Recycling one can be relatively simple. Unfortunately, often overlooked as they are small; people then just throw them straight in the bin.
Can you throw a hair dryer away?
To throw a hair dryer away, in many places, is prohibited. Any electrical waste must be disposed of correctly, this means taking it to a place for recycling. Electrical waste, also known as E-waste, is a large contributor to landfill sites. Despite there being many was for people to responsibly recycle their electrical items, people still fail to do so. Please don't be one of these people and correctly recycle your hair dryer.
Recycling a hair dryer
It's important to recycle your hair dryer. Throughout its life it has done nothing but negatively impact the environment. By recycling your hair dryer, you can do your bit to help offset some of these emissions.
Ways to recycle your old hair dryer:
- Take it your local authorities recycling centre.
- Send it to a reputable E-waste recycling company. Some also do collections.
- If you wanted to get hands on; you could take it apart yourself and recycle each material separately.
- Some brands will take back your unwanted hair dryer and recycle it for free.
- If it still works sell it online.
- Donate it to charity. They will only accept working products in good condition.
- See if someone you know would like it.
Are hair dryers bad for the environment?
Hair dryers are bad for the environment because they can use a lot of energy to run. This energy is used to heat and blow the air. Generally the heating part is the main consumer taking up around 95% on the energy; leaving the other 5% to brow the hot air out at your hair. However, hair dryers are getting better. Producers have focused on reducing the imbalance of energy used to create more energy efficient models. Choosing a model with less wattage will also help reduce energy consumption.
The use of any hair dryer is categorically bad for the environment. The fact that your hair can dry naturally, should render a hair dryer obsolete. And any use of one promotes negative effects on climate change. However, it is understandable to want to use a hair dryer for ease, time saving and styling benefits.
Ultimately Hair driers nowadays can be pretty pricey; with fancy ones selling for hundreds. SO get the most use out of it as you can. If you hair dryer still has life left in it give it a new home before looking to get rid of it. If its life has ended, make sure you recycle it correctly. This will help offset all the negative effects it has had on the environment so far.
