disposal of keys?

[Jack]

Is there any special way you're supposed to dispose of old keys? You can't recycle them, can you?

[Denny]

perhaps you could find someone that needed an Eb

[djm]

That would be so .... oh, I don't know .... just so unchromatic of you.

djm

[gonzo914]

You are wise to want to recycle or otherwise safely dispose of your keys, as old keys present significant environmental and safety hazards if not properly handled.

You should not just toss your keys in the trash, because then they end up in land fills and rats could eat them and develop impacted digestive tracts and gastric torsion and die.

Likewise, just don’t toss them out into the yard, as small children could pick them up and put them in their mouths and choke and die.

If you throw them in a lake or river, the fish will eat them and then choke and die. If the fish don’t eat them, they will sink to the bottom and disintegrate and pollute the water supply. Unless they are aluminum keys. Aluminum keys float and could damage outboard motors, causing terrible boating accidents, in which people will die.

If you want to dispose of them safely and responsibly, here are some options.

Many municipalities offer free hazardous materials disposal, mostly for paint and cleaning materials, but they would take your keys. These are often by appointment, so you should call city offices. Start with the waste disposal department.

If there is a Veterans Administration hospital in your area, you could take your keys there. The VA melts them down and uses the metal for prosthetics for disabled veterans. They especially like brass keys, and their need is high right at the moment.

One of the service clubs – Lions or Sertoma or something – collects aluminum keys along with other aluminum scrap and melts it down to make frames for sunglasses, which they send to lepers in central Africa. Lepers are very sensitive to bright light. Look in the Yellow Pages under "service clubs" and call around.

Finally, there is the military. You can take them to a nearby military base or National Guard Armory or Army Reserve center or even a recruiting station, where they can turn them in with all of their brass bullet casings. The military, you know, collects all the brass at firing ranges. Soldiers issued 12 bullets have to return 12 casings after firing them. Every recruiter knows exactly what to do with these. I think Fort Campbell is close to you; you could just drive up to the front gate and hand them to the sentry. They'll be happy to take them off your hands.

I hope this helps.

[Denny]

[Congratulations]

Ditto. Truly.

/awe

[Tyler]

There's a reason he's the Pope...just in case anyone doubts his claim to the throne...and this would be a good example of why he's the pope.

LMFUACOROFL

[crookedtune]

In the U.S., I heard they were being shipped to Florida to use as offshore fill on some chain of islands. Can't remember what they're called.

[Cynth]

If any of the keys are skeleton keys, those should be put in small boxes and reinterred. Probably someone at your city offices will know exactly where that should be done----presumably they are keeping records of that sort of thing.

[hyldemoer]

Is there any special way you're supposed to dispose of old keys? You can't recycle them, can you?

Cran, there's probably an artist somewhere looking for old keys to recycle into their latest project.
Until you find them one of your avenues might be to archive the keys.
I have a whole basement full of archived items waiting to be recycled into art.

[Innocent Bystander]

Although there are logically an infinite number of keys, in practice the numbers are limited by the physics. You could keep your old keys on a "dead" keyring. Then when the actual key is lost you can try the keys on your "dead" keyring. Once in a while one will fit.

I caution you against moving around at night with such a keyring on you, as the cops look out for stuff like this, and tend to assume the worst.

[djm]

Are you The Keymaster?



djm

[Cynth]

Although there are logically an infinite number of keys, in practice the numbers are limited by the physics. You could keep your old keys on a "dead" keyring. Then when the actual key is lost you can try the keys on your "dead" keyring. Once in a while one will fit.

I caution you against moving around at night with such a keyring on you, as the cops look out for stuff like this, and tend to assume the worst.

No, no, and no. DO NOT get into the habit of keeping everything just in case it might come in handy sometime. This can lead to the most nightmarish situation you can imagine---come and see my house. Get rid of them pronto! (No offense, IB )

Is there any special way you're supposed to dispose of old keys? You can't recycle them, can you?

Cran, there's probably an artist somewhere looking for old keys to recycle into their latest project.
Until you find them one of your avenues might be to archive the keys.
I have a whole basement full of archived items waiting to be recycled into art.

That's it!!!! Sell them on eBay! I had a student once who bought old home movies for art projects. You can sell anything on eBay.

[Innocent Bystander]

Men keep stuff forever, and women throw stuff away (possibly excepting fashion accessories). It's a law of Nature. Don't flout it.

[Innocent Bystander]

"The Man who never threw anything away" (among other works by Kabakov)

I saw this at the ICA. It was hilarious.


But, Cranberry! You must realise what you have there! This might be the beginning of what could become the largest key collection in the world!