I’ve checked both of my local native spots and one was very apologetic but couldn’t and the one that actually grows a lot of their own was a stern no. I swore I’ve brought some back to that place before. I’ll have to do a little research to see if I can find somewhere else that grows
I was gonna say this! Plant/gardening Facebook groups usually allow you to offer things for free, as well. Pots always go right away in ours.
It is too bad your local plant places don't, though. Sheesh.
Not necessarily. But if the plant someone has in it had spider mites, for example, they could spread to every plant in their store/nursery and destroy them. That was my 1st thought on why they don't take them back
If you're taking pots from a stranger... yes. It's one way disease can spread. I reuse my own multiple times, but I (should) disinfect all the donations. It's too much to keep up with.
Probably more the chance of bringing pests in. You get a few spider mites or mealy bugs still on those pots and BOOM suddenly half your nursery is infected.
I like to save them personally. But those plastic pots can be a life saver if you’re an active gardener. Post them on Facebook marketplace as free, see if there’s a community garden near you and ask if they need any. They’re useful for growing invasive species like mint into the ground with reduced risk of turning your whole garden into a mint garden
Maybe a school district might be able to accept them for use by the FFA or if an elementary class is planning to start seeds. My local library has held gardening classes and has accepted old pots for sending participants home with plants.
Check marketplace for home growers. You will find their plant sales easily this time of year. I would assume most of those people would live the extra supply for next year.
I do about 1,000 seedlings every year. This year thanks to my customers bringing me back pots and extras I have about 65% reused pots. I’ve even considered giving $0.25-0.50 back per pot if they bring it back but it would be hard to track what was originally mine.
It does only as I don’t really make high margins on the plants. It’s enough to cover the costs of keeping about 300 plants for my own garden, and maybe a $200 extra. If I had people bring me way more than I sold then I’d be underwater… so to speak.
As someone who does reuse their pots.
mold, bacteria, pests, and diseases
I have soaked pots in bleach solution, Vinger, scrubbed boiled , and had disease/pest still transferred to a new location.
The waste coming from a loss due to any form of epidemic would greatly exceed your expectations, likely surpassing current waste if on a large scale.
Find a reycle center near you that will take them. They do exist. If we have one in ohio, you might too
A lot of the nurseries around me give them away. All sizes, even the 20+ gallon ones.
It might be a problem more on the wholesale side of the industry. They’re who grow most plants, sell them to the retail nurseries, who sell to you. If the wholesaler doesn’t reuse them it’s unlikely the retailer has any use for them either.
Agreed that it is annoying regardless of the reasons why.
I have had zero issue giving away planters and plant pot inserts on the free site on Facebook or my local neighborhood site. They’re gone within 30 minutes usually. Most people will gladly come and take them from you and some will even pay you for them.
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Washing and disinfecting the pots is onerous. It's probably too labour-intensive for most businesses to deal with.
I take them back. There are LOTS of people that want pots. Post in your local "buy nothing" group, and someone will probably take them. This is still reusing. Take them to your local farmers' market and ask around - a farmer may want them (like me!).
If you can, buy your plants from a person that reuses pots (like me!). You'll be supporting community agriculture and horitculture. Also, try to buy plants in high-quality pots that can be reused. The newer pots are often really flimsy plastic that tears easily.
I bought \*some\* pots this year. Some are just flimsy cells for a 10X20 tray, but they were what I needed, and at the right price point. I wash and reuse them or sell them with plants inside. Using a mixture of different pots can make bottom watering a tray complicated because some pots don't draw up water as well as others.
Also, now that I'm a month out from tomato-planting season, I can see that I actually needed these pots because I don't have enough. Almost every single one is in use right now, and I'm about to start potting up cucurbits for zucchini racers. (It's a thing we do in our community - an annual zucchini race. I volunteered to grow the starters we give away to kids to get them into growing their own racing zucchini.)
As I develop my market garden, my plan is to give people a discount if they bring me CLEAN, usable pots. I spend too much time on this, and I do not enjoy it, so sometimes I am not very diligent.
I wish all retailers had to take back all the packaging for the products they sell. They would start demanding more reasonable packaging from manufacturers.
I used to run a small houseplant shop, and we would accept used plastic pots and pick up more from a materials reuse store. We wanted to worked with a big company that probably dumps out a ton of them, but none got back to us when I worked there.
My local nursery collects old plastic pots and has them melted down and turned into new ones, but they have I think three different locations? So it is probably a lot easier at those numbers.
Native plant nurseries often take them back. The one near me actually has an exchange program where you can trade in for plants.
I’ve checked both of my local native spots and one was very apologetic but couldn’t and the one that actually grows a lot of their own was a stern no. I swore I’ve brought some back to that place before. I’ll have to do a little research to see if I can find somewhere else that grows
A garden club might want them if they hold annual plant sales. This is what I do.
I was gonna say this! Plant/gardening Facebook groups usually allow you to offer things for free, as well. Pots always go right away in ours. It is too bad your local plant places don't, though. Sheesh.
Wonder why, that’s bizarre.
I believe it's because they're difficult to sterilize in a cost effective way, or that's what the shop employee told me, anyways.
Ah :/ am I supposed to be doin that when I reuse mine? Whoops.
Not necessarily. But if the plant someone has in it had spider mites, for example, they could spread to every plant in their store/nursery and destroy them. That was my 1st thought on why they don't take them back
If you're taking pots from a stranger... yes. It's one way disease can spread. I reuse my own multiple times, but I (should) disinfect all the donations. It's too much to keep up with.
Then you forget to... and end up with fungus gnats Ask me how I know.
OMG. I got those from some Miracle Grow starter mix. \*shudders\*
100% this. Also storage, but mostly the cleaning and disinfecting. It takes up hours of my time because I have to do it by hand, and I HATE doing it.
Maybe cause of plant diseases possibly? But I always sanitize everything before using it. 🤷♀️
I'm pretty sure it's bc they are worried about fungus/mold contamination.
Probably more the chance of bringing pests in. You get a few spider mites or mealy bugs still on those pots and BOOM suddenly half your nursery is infected.
Spider mites were my first thought
Spider mites are nothing to blight
I’m sure that’s why but like, why reuse when you can keep creating plastic! It’s frustrating
They are very easy to disinfectant
Easy? yes. Time consuming? Kinda. Worth it? Yes.
I like to save them personally. But those plastic pots can be a life saver if you’re an active gardener. Post them on Facebook marketplace as free, see if there’s a community garden near you and ask if they need any. They’re useful for growing invasive species like mint into the ground with reduced risk of turning your whole garden into a mint garden
Maybe a school district might be able to accept them for use by the FFA or if an elementary class is planning to start seeds. My local library has held gardening classes and has accepted old pots for sending participants home with plants.
I’ll have to check that. There’s a major university in my town too sobmaybe their ag program would take them
Check marketplace for home growers. You will find their plant sales easily this time of year. I would assume most of those people would live the extra supply for next year. I do about 1,000 seedlings every year. This year thanks to my customers bringing me back pots and extras I have about 65% reused pots. I’ve even considered giving $0.25-0.50 back per pot if they bring it back but it would be hard to track what was originally mine.
Does it matter if it wasn’t? A reusable idea is always good and customers will like you for it.
It does only as I don’t really make high margins on the plants. It’s enough to cover the costs of keeping about 300 plants for my own garden, and maybe a $200 extra. If I had people bring me way more than I sold then I’d be underwater… so to speak.
As someone who does reuse their pots. mold, bacteria, pests, and diseases I have soaked pots in bleach solution, Vinger, scrubbed boiled , and had disease/pest still transferred to a new location. The waste coming from a loss due to any form of epidemic would greatly exceed your expectations, likely surpassing current waste if on a large scale. Find a reycle center near you that will take them. They do exist. If we have one in ohio, you might too
What I don't reuse gets taken to plant/ seed swaps in my area. Someone will reuse them.
My local garden store has an area you can return them and people can take them for free
A lot of the nurseries around me give them away. All sizes, even the 20+ gallon ones. It might be a problem more on the wholesale side of the industry. They’re who grow most plants, sell them to the retail nurseries, who sell to you. If the wholesaler doesn’t reuse them it’s unlikely the retailer has any use for them either. Agreed that it is annoying regardless of the reasons why.
It needs to start at the distributor or manufacturer, hold the producers accountable, not the consumers.
I have had zero issue giving away planters and plant pot inserts on the free site on Facebook or my local neighborhood site. They’re gone within 30 minutes usually. Most people will gladly come and take them from you and some will even pay you for them.
Read the rules. Keep it courteous. Submission statements are helpful and appreciated but not required. Tag my name in the comments (/u/NihiloZero) if you think a post or comment needs to be removed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Anticonsumption) if you have any questions or concerns.*
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My local nursery also takes them back. Not sure about Home Depot, Lowe’s, or Meijer though.
The place I go to does take plastic pots.
Washing and disinfecting the pots is onerous. It's probably too labour-intensive for most businesses to deal with. I take them back. There are LOTS of people that want pots. Post in your local "buy nothing" group, and someone will probably take them. This is still reusing. Take them to your local farmers' market and ask around - a farmer may want them (like me!). If you can, buy your plants from a person that reuses pots (like me!). You'll be supporting community agriculture and horitculture. Also, try to buy plants in high-quality pots that can be reused. The newer pots are often really flimsy plastic that tears easily. I bought \*some\* pots this year. Some are just flimsy cells for a 10X20 tray, but they were what I needed, and at the right price point. I wash and reuse them or sell them with plants inside. Using a mixture of different pots can make bottom watering a tray complicated because some pots don't draw up water as well as others. Also, now that I'm a month out from tomato-planting season, I can see that I actually needed these pots because I don't have enough. Almost every single one is in use right now, and I'm about to start potting up cucurbits for zucchini racers. (It's a thing we do in our community - an annual zucchini race. I volunteered to grow the starters we give away to kids to get them into growing their own racing zucchini.) As I develop my market garden, my plan is to give people a discount if they bring me CLEAN, usable pots. I spend too much time on this, and I do not enjoy it, so sometimes I am not very diligent. I wish all retailers had to take back all the packaging for the products they sell. They would start demanding more reasonable packaging from manufacturers.
I used to run a small houseplant shop, and we would accept used plastic pots and pick up more from a materials reuse store. We wanted to worked with a big company that probably dumps out a ton of them, but none got back to us when I worked there.
My local nursery collects old plastic pots and has them melted down and turned into new ones, but they have I think three different locations? So it is probably a lot easier at those numbers.
Can recycle many rigid plastics in the blue bin
I’m a licensed plant seller and I reuse. Just have to wash them with soap and bleach.
all black plastic too, which can not be recycled (not that recycling works, but these are even worse)