What to do with leftover plastic pots?

I wasn't quite sure what forum was most appropriate for this question. I have piles upon piles of plastic pots ranging from small seed starting flats to large pots that held trees. Even if I held back enough for anything I wanted to propagate myself, I still have what looks like a heap of trash. A few of them have a recycling stamp on them. The rest do not. Is there some kind of pot return program that I might not know about? The amount of plastic involved in putting in a garden from purchased starts, shrubs, and trees is overwhelming.

K Putnam wrote:I wasn't quite sure what forum was most appropriate for this question. I have piles upon piles of plastic pots ranging from small seed starting flats to large pots that held trees. Even if I held back enough for anything I wanted to propagate myself, I still have what looks like a heap of trash. A few of them have a recycling stamp on them. The rest do not. Is there some kind of pot return program that I might not know about? The amount of plastic involved in putting in a garden from purchased starts, shrubs, and trees is overwhelming.

I've rarely bought a potted plant, but am one who uses those cast off containers...I find them at the thrift stores here and plant exchanges and by word of mouth. I bet if you put an ad out there somewhere, someone would jump at the chance to have them.
That doesn't solve the problem of all that plastic that isn't recyclable by the time the pot is worn and sun damaged though. I know that our recycling center doesn't take that type of plastic even when new.

Some garden centers will take plastic pots back - at least around here.

Almost all nurseries will take your used pots, all you have to do is ask where to drop them.

Thank you guys! I'll ask my local nursery.

I buy them in stacks at garage sales and scrounge them up along roadsides when they blow out of people's pickups. Which is to say, you might be able to move them all out of your yard by stacking them neatly at your curb with a "free -- please take" sign. I know I would leave two strips of black rubber climbing on the brakes if I saw something like that, and I can't believe I am alone.

For people who buy all their plants, these things are waste. But for those of us who propagate everything from seed and cuttings, especially slow-growing perennial everything, these things are treasure. I never have enough, because they do degrade so rapidly when exposed to the elements.

Go ahead and drop them off at my place after work today...

K Putnam wrote:I wasn't quite sure what forum was most appropriate for this question. I have piles upon piles of plastic pots ranging from small seed starting flats to large pots that held trees. Even if I held back enough for anything I wanted to propagate myself, I still have what looks like a heap of trash. A few of them have a recycling stamp on them. The rest do not. Is there some kind of pot return program that I might not know about? The amount of plastic involved in putting in a garden from purchased starts, shrubs, and trees is overwhelming.

Just wanted to say Hello to a neighbor. We're east of Eatonville.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:Go ahead and drop them off at my place after work today...

Hey, thanks for the pots. I put grape cuttings into the larger ones, and stashed the smallest ones away for next spring.

I scrounged some largish ones from the 'drop off' place at a local nursery, when the backhoe was going through the yard, and I wanted to save/pot up some favorite old perennials.  So now they're still here, empty, but I've turned them into 'buckets with bails' by drilling two holes and putting salvaged electrical wire, or freebie hangers (from dry cleaners) through.  I like the fact that they have drainage holes, so I can leave 'stuff' in them for a day or more without worrying about them getting waterlogged, when it rains.  This is especially true in the spring when pulled weeds can't be left on the ground, or else they'll continue growing.  But also for harvested apples that have to wait a day or two, etc.   Plus, they're black and not too conspicuous.

Years ago when I lived in a small community in Georgia which had some people involved in a nursery and landscaping business (with the associated huge pile of plastic pots), I cut up a bunch of the pots with heavy scissors/poultry shears and made shingles for the wall of a shed, stapling them to the wood underneath in overlapping courses.  Being curved, of course they did not lay perfectly flat, but they did shed the rain, which was the point.  Being meant for outdoor use and made reistant to sunlight, I guessed they would last a long time, and they did last the rest of the time I was there, five years or so....