Whether you are looking to brew a cup of coffee or tea or simply heat water for your cereal, we’re confident you agree that kettles come in handy. They are high utility home appliances that no one can do without.
Typically, you can use the average kettle for as long as four years and even longer if you excel at managing household appliances. However, the time will eventually come for you to replace it because of wear and tear. You may also choose to upgrade to a bigger size or a newer design.
Of course, you’ll have to dispose of the old kettle to make room for your newer ones. In this blog post, we’ll fully dive into whether you can recycle your old kettle and other innovative ways to dispose of it. Enjoy!
Can a Kettle Go in the Bin?
Since most of the waste materials we gather from daily house cleaning and maintenance can go in the bin, you may consider the same for your useless household appliances. However, with the direction the world has been going lately, if we do not dispose of our waste properly, we may be harming the environment.
As such, particular waste products should never go in your waste bin, and one of them is your kettle. Of course, both electric and manual kettles fall under this category. You may be wondering why, and we’ll walk you through that shortly.
On the one hand, your electric kettle should never go in the waste bin, just like other electrical appliances. But, on the other hand, it shouldn’t go in the recycling bin either, and here’s why. Electric kettles are what we consider e-waste, and there is a particular recycling method for them.
Typically, the average recycling center cannot take care of e-waste; hence, there are special recycling companies for them. The rule of thumb is that if you can connect the appliance to a socket, it counts as e-waste.
E-waste is harmful to the environment. When you throw your unwanted electric kettle in the bin, you may be harming the environment. Electric kettles contain metal components that can take wreak havoc on the environment.
Additionally, they also have electric components that can be reused or disposed of properly. So when you’re looking to dispose of your electric kettle, be sure to send it to a recycling company that specializes in e-waste.
On the other hand, if you own a traditional kettle, you will also have to dispose of it properly by taking it to the recycling center. Leaving a traditional kettle in your waste bin will merely endanger the environment. It can take as long as fifty years or even more to disintegrate because it is made of steel. While this happens, it releases some harmful toxins into the environment.
Typically, recycling centers accept traditional kettles. You can simply take yours down to the one closest to you, and they will dispose of it.
Can You Put a Kettle in the Dishwasher?
Dishwashers sure make doing the dishes super-easy. All you have to do is arrange them in the racks and turn on your dishwasher.
Of course, you’ll have to clean your kettle, especially if you use it often. This may leave you wondering if you can simply toss it in the dishwasher and let it take care of your kettle. Well, the short answer is that you can’t, and here’s why.
Typically, most homes own electric kettles. These are portable and easy to work with. Well, aside from the shape and size of your kettle becoming a problem for a dishwasher, there are other reasons you can’t put a kettle in a dishwasher.
Your electric kettle comes with an array of wires that you should certainly not expose to water. Of course, this excludes filling your kettle up and plugging it into a socket, as the water still won’t touch the electrical parts.
But when you decide to put it in a dishwasher, you’ll be exposing every part of it to foamy water, which can both damage the kettle and subsequently harm you. In addition, you may weaken the kettle parts that should remain dry, and if the wrong components collide, there may be unwanted sparks.
You may decide to wait until everything fully dries before plugging in your kettle again, but you never can tell if water has gotten into some parts or not. As such, it is best to refrain from washing your kettle with a dishwasher.
Are Kettles Energy-Efficient?
We need to be more energy-conscious if we plan to conserve our environment. One of such ways is to use appliances that are energy efficient. Of course, this may lead you to ponder if your electric kettle conserves energy and just how much.
Electric kettles have a metallic coil that manufacturers design with high resistance materials. If you inspect your electric kettle, you will find both sides of this coil at the bottom and likely connected to a wire. It is this wire that passes current to the ring and causes it to heat up speedily.
Typically, it takes an average of two minutes to boil water with an electric kettle. During this time, we can say that it will consume about 144 kilojoules of electricity, which is fair for the services it provides you. We can also say that an electric kettle is 80% energy efficient.
Now that we have delved into its science, we can compare the energy efficiency of an electric kettle with a traditional one. You need to place a conventional kettle on a heating stove before you use it. It works by heating the kettle first, then subsequently the water.
Essentially, this means you will be consuming more energy than an electric kettle. With an electric kettle, you don’t need to heat the body before your water begins to boil. Instead, the coil comes in direct contact with the water and brings it to boil within a few minutes.
However, a traditional kettle needs heat around its body before it can begin to heat your water. So, summarily, electric kettles are more energy-efficient than traditional ones. However, it is safe to say that both kettles conserve energy and certainly do not go beyond the required kilojoules to provide you with comfort and luxury.
Are Kettles Bad For the Environment?
Kettles may be bad for the environment, but that is a relative thing to say. Here’s why.
Kettles come with different materials. For instance, there are kettles made from plastic, steel and other metals. But, unfortunately, the ones made from plastics have a production process that is bad for the environment.
It requires a combination of plastics which all need to be melted together and subsequently go through another long manufacturing process to shape them into heat-resistant appliances that provide you with hot water.
Many chemicals are released into the environment during these processes, and plenty of energy is also consumed. Let’s not even get started on the disposal method; plastic items typically tend to be a bit challenging to recycle.
On the other hand, kettles made from metals and steel are more energy-efficient, have and have better disposal options. In addition, the manufacturing process isn’t nearly as rigorous as that of a plastic kettle. You can also be assured that fewer chemicals go into manufacturing steel, as it is already a non-renewable resource that doesn’t need to be built from scratch.
They also last for an average of four years, after which you can tote them down to your recycling center. So, with metallic and steel kettles, you are protecting the environment by consuming less non-renewable resources and energy.
What to do With a Broken Electric Kettle?
If you have decided to go green, recycling may be a priority for you. But of course, there are other safe disposal methods, such as upcycling. In fact, it is an excellent idea to consider recycling as your ultimate option, as your unwanted materials may still have one or two uses in them.
Subsequently, we’ll explore some of the things you can still do with a broken electric kettle, and we’re confident you’ll enjoy trying them out. Please, dive in!
1. Watering Can
If you enjoy gardening and would love to cut back on your garden supplies cost, then this hack is perfect for you. Whether you have a big or small kettle, you can fill it up with water and use it to wet your plants.
Typically, the water outlet should be perfect for wetting plants. But if you are working with budding ones, you may have to place a small filter at the opening for water. Nevertheless, this is an excellent hack, and even if you are not into gardening, you may gift your old kettles to your friends who have a green thumb.
2. Flower Pot
We’re still on gardening, and you can use your old kettle as a flower pot. You can put this makeshift pot at aesthetically pleasing spots inside your home. It could be on the dinner table, at the entrance of your home, or even your bedroom.
Simply fill the kettle with some loamy soil, plant your favorite flower buds in it and give it sufficient oxygen, sunlight and water. It can also serve as a temporary flower pot, and you can transplant your plants later on. Then, as always, you can gift out this flower pot with the flowers in them.
3. Ladle
A kettle is a perfect appliance for a makeshift ladle. It’s pretty portable and just the ideal size. You can use it to scoop up your dog’s food, dry foods like rice and millet, and even use it to take water.
But of course, you will first have to prepare the kettle. Take off its cover, detach the wire carefully, and unplug it from its stand if it has one. Then, finally, you will have the perfect ladle without needing to spend some money or go to the supermarket.
4. Measuring Jug
If your kettle comes with measuring marks, then you can use it as a measuring jug. But, of course, if you are not satisfied with the units of measurement, you can always redesign them.
Simply get your desired measurement units and mark them on the kettle, and you’ll have yourself a measuring jug in no time. You can have multiple markings on the kettle but in an organized manner. If you enjoy baking and cooking, this will undoubtedly come in handy for you.
Conclusion
Letting go of household appliances can be hard, especially when you are already familiar with how they work. But of course, they cannot last forever, and we will eventually have to let them go.
Well, this article has adequately delved into how to dispose of your old kettle properly, why you need to dispose of it properly, and fantastic ways you can go about it. So please, read up and stay informed!
References:
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45969676
https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/home-garden/shopping-guide/kettles
