Preferring a lifestyle that involves intent to protect the environment and, in the process, reducing the damage caused to restore what has been taken away from nature is a trending choice!
There are many opportunities that one may take every day to move closer to making the environment clean and sustainable. Using the sizeable 55-gallon plastic barrels is one such example of the benign thought bestowed upon.
As you have already taken the big step to challenge yourself in finding ways to change the environment for the better, the follow-up steps would be comfortable with proper guidance and innovative ideas. These ideas can help you live an eco-friendly life in style!
Following the ‘3Rs’ formula that refers to reducing, reusing, recycling the plastic items to obtain a green environment can be an excellent way to put the big plastic drums into use.
The next thing lined up in the row is to scout around these multi-purpose drums that, too, already sound to be the best deal in the first step of being an environmentalist without spending a penny.
Scouting Out the Right Place
Browsing: An express gateway is to do a quick online search by feeding ‘free 55-gallon plastic drums near me‘ in the search engine, which can deliver thousands of results in just a fraction of seconds. Some of the websites which offer free 55-gallon plastic drums are:
- Freecycle
- Frege
- Freeholder
- Craigslist
- The Cary Company
- Gumtree
- Global Industrial
- The Home Depot
- eBay
- Uline, etc.
You can also try checking on Facebook, which has local yard-sale groups to trace out free 55-gallon plastic drums near me options.
The locality you are residing in may also have a slight possibility of providers and companies who would be more than happy to give away their old plastic drums. These may include:
Hardware stores: Hardware stores can be an excellent place to start with, in case of a refined search for free 555-gallon plastic drums near me options.
Food-grade Processing Places: Nearby places that process food-grade items like chicken manufacturing often use 55-gallon plastic drums. One would have to talk to the farmer or the retailer to pick up free 55-gallon plastic drums from these places or shops.
Beverage Manufacturers: These large 55-gallon plastic drums are convenient storekeepers for breweries, wineries, soft drink bottles, juice bottles, and other bottled or canned drinks. So, the manufacturers or companies containing these beverages are the best sources to contact if you search for free 55-gallon plastic drums near me.
Homebrew Supply Stores/Grocery Stores: Usually, most of the items are delivered to the homebrew supply stores or grocery stores in big drums, and contacting the ones in your locality can fetch you free 55-gallon plastic drums easily.
Carwashes include soap, foam, and wax, which are preferably stored in the big 55-gallon plastic drums.
These cleaning agents are different from the regular ones used in households as they contain ammonium compounds. These chemicals are significant skin and eye irritants and must be kept away from children.
Golf Courses: If you are residing in an idle yet moderately posh locality, chances are there that there would be golf courses around. Liquid fertilizers are ordered in bulk to maintain the golf courses.
The liquid fertilizers come in big 55-gallon plastic barrels, and thus the problem of getting free 55-gallon plastic drums near me can be easily solved, but then they are not to be used food-keeping anyway or storing.
Insulation Companies: Spray-foam insulation leaves chemical residues at the bottom and sides of the used plastic drums.
The insulation companies often find it difficult to recycle these vast drums. Thus, they can be excellent options to ask for free 55-gallon plastic drums near me. But precautionary measures are to be taken with utmost care before reusing these drums for any household activity.
Industrial Waste Collection Companies: Many chemicals are disposed of in the factories, and the best way to transport them is by using big drums. But precautionary measures are to be taken care of before reusing these drums for any household use.
Garages/Mechanics/Car Dealers: The 55-gallon plastic barrels are used to store petroleum products, used waste oil, lubricants, waxes, etc., in these places and thus serve as good options to ask for free 55-gallon plastic drums near me.
Landfill Sites/Junk Yards: They say, “Someone’s trash is another’s treasure.” The use of these drums is entirely in your hands if you choose them carefully as per your need.
Apart from these places, one can also ask in any tire and lube companies or retail shops, or aluminum or any metal works places to get free 55-gallon plastic drums. Beyond the shadow of a doubt, 55-gallon plastic barrels find a myriad of applications around your garden and homestead, a listing of which can give ideas to explore for more.
Utilities
Rainwater Harvesting: Collecting the purest form of water for its sustainable use, like gardening, cleaning cars or bikes, washing the lawn or the backyard, need big containers like the 55-gallon plastic drums.
Owning a Hydroponic System: Owning a hydroponic system to grow plants in water and raise fish (Aquaponic system) is not a dream anymore. The 55-gallon plastic barrels are needed to be bisected to make the perfect grow beds.
Garden Utilities: Using creative ideas to cut the large plastic drums into bench seats with wooden slats or a wheelbarrow or a compost to maintain the fertility of the soil can change the entire look of your garden.
Home Decor Ideas: Instead of investing a lump sum of money on furniture, you can opt for a more customized option like desks, tables, cabinets, chairs, sofas, vanity units in toilets or bathrooms, etc., using wooden support. These look not just attractive but are very comfortable too.
Ploughing Snow: Discovering a low-cost method to develop a snowplow to remove snow and ice from the outdoor surfaces can be very useful during the winter months. The large size of the plastic barrels can just fit right for the purpose.
These are only a few ways to use 55-gallon plastic barrels in your garden or homestead. Safety norms to use these drums are to be followed.
A Note on Safety
Material Safety Data Sheets: Prior checking of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) to learn about the original documents containing chemical hazard information can help select drums that can be used for food storage or grow vegetation in.
Beware of Toxicants: Every time that you think of ‘free 55-gallon plastic drums near me‘ your search should always contain a filter that rules out the possibilities of reusing the plastic drums as food storing or as brewing plant alternatives which were used earlier for keeping or storing hazardous chemicals or toxic inflammable or unsafe elements and materials around food production.
Thorough Hygiene Maintenance before Use: Washing the used free 55-gallon plastic drums with soap and water is advisory. The cleaning process can be tedious if the drums were used to store intoxicants and essential measures are to be taken care of before cleaning them.
To be on the safe side, it is good to be well-aware of the type of material stored in the drums and then prepare for a clean-up process accordingly.
Health Factors: You can look out for Chemical Hazard warning signs on the free 55-gallon plastic drums’ body. These signs are essential to be learned about to have prior knowledge of what is being dealt with.
Any idea to use these plastic barrels at home must be reconsidered if children are around. The chemical residues left on the bottom or sides of the drums can irritate the young children or cause allergies to the people you care for.
Condition Check: Apart from the safety signs and warnings, the second hand 55-gallon plastic drums would not be in good condition for obvious reasons, and thus, the use of them according to your need must be checked beforehand. Else, it is more likely that you cleared someone else’s trash to dump it in your area.
An entire list of the benign uses of free 55-gallon plastic barrels is now ready to be explored, along with the places to find them within your reach.
Adhering to the precautionary measures enables one to begin searching for free 55-gallon plastic drums near me options. It is indeed a genuine way to start the journey towards a cleaner environment in a sophisticated manner.
Exploring a plethora of available eco-friendly alternatives provided with the abundant stock of free 55-gallon plastic drums near me and around.]
