What to Do with Old Frying Pans: The Four R’s
Knowing what to do with old frying pans as opposed to simply throwing them out can often leave you short of ideas, but luckily for you, we've compiled a list of some of the most useful and fun alternative uses for your old and worn-down frying pans.
This way, you won't just help lessen the number of garbage, you can also save some cash from buying the items that you can make out of old frying pans.
What to Do with Old Frying Pans: Our Recommendations
Reinvent
For the creative ones amongst us, you can take the opportunity to completely reinvent your old pans into new and interesting pieces. Below we've listed some examples of creations that others have come up with.
- Bird feeder: Drill a hole through the lid and the pan to attach the two. Use the lid as a roof over the bird feeder.
- Cake stand: For pans that have an interesting design, simply remove the handle and attach a stand or base. That's it! You have a unique cake stand.
- Chalkboard: Hang a selection of frying pans in a row after painting the insides with chalking paint. You'll then have a decorative wall piece where you can leave messages to your loved ones.
- Birdbath: A bit of work but certainly worth it, a bird bath can be made by attaching numerous discarded frying pans at varying heights up along a central pole.
- Pot planters: With zero effort, you can quickly turn old frying pans into pots for your plants. Keeping the handle attached makes them easy to rearrange for when you want to try a different look. You can also paint their exterior to give it a new look.
Reuse
A great option is to give these frying pans a lease of life in a new environment where there isn't as much of a concern for them to be in perfect condition. Below, we'll list some of the options to get a bit more use out of them before they get recycled or put to more creative feats.
- Donation: Donating your old pots and pans to those in need is an excellent way of doing something more meaningful rather than just taking them to get scrapped. It also keeps more pans in a cycle, which means not as many need to be produced which in the long run, the environment will thank you.
- Camping: Move your pans out of the kitchen and into the wilderness, as there's no point in buying new pans that are going to be outside suffering inevitable knocks and dings.
- Play kitchen: Create a play kitchen for your kids so that they can cook along as you're making their dinner. It's a great way to keep them in sight and amused while you're busy in the kitchen.
- Décor: Give your pans a scrub and a polish to make them excellent decorative pieces in the kitchen. Hanging multiple pans along a kitchen wall creates a fantastic focal point.
Recycle
When it comes to recycling your pans, you want to get in touch with your local scrap metal recycling center, as they'll be able to direct you on how to quickly and efficiently recycle your pans. They'll ask whether your pans are ferrous or nonferrous. The former being magnetic and the latter not, you'll also want to let them know if your pans utilize some form of a non-stick coating as these often contain chemicals that can't be recycled with other metals and need to be removed beforehand.
It's also a good idea to check the frying pans manufacturer's website since they'll be able to offer more information on what you would need to do in order to recycle it.
Mail-in programs are also available. Calphalon run their renew program where buyers of their products can use the boxes that their new products came in to send their old pots and pans to Calphalon. They will then arrange to have them recycled. This is a great way to save yourself a trip to the recycling center and an excuse to buy yourself a new pan.
Resale
Another option is always to hit popular second-hand platforms such as Craigslist or Facebook. Obviously, this depends on the quality of your pans but even advertising them for free is a good way to pass them onto others who will get some good use out of them.
When it comes to resale value, the price should really be nominal as their worth significantly drops after use. If you have a high-end frying pan that you are looking to sell, it might worth investing some time scanning online sale sites to gauge what kind of interest there is, plus what others are selling them for.
To Summarize
There is a wealth of possible futures for your old frying pans other than ending up in a landfill, so try and get a little creative and make your kitchen a little more personal with some homemade décor.
If DIY isn't your strongest point and it's safer for you to stay away from power tools, then look for others who could get some good use out of them. This can include donations to charities or gifting them through online platforms.
