Recycling A Piano

One woman's piano can become another's jewelry.

Just as there's more than one way to peel a banana, there's also more than one way to recycle a piano. Much depends on what condition the piano is in and what resources are available to you. According to "The Piano Book: Buying and Owning a New and Used Piano," recycling an old piano -- one that's beyond reasonable repair -- makes good ecological sense. But you also can recycle in other ways, such as by restoring the piano or by "up cycling" it into something entirely new.

Instructions

1. Call a repair professional, especially if you intend to keep or sell the piano. She can tell you what the piano needs to make it ready for reuse, and maybe even what it's worth. This will help you determine how to market the piano, if you decide to recycle it by refurbishing and selling it.

2. Take it to a recycling or other facility, if it's beyond repair. Your local waste management service, which usually is managed by administrators from the county or city in which live, may have information about local facilities. You may even be able to take advantage of a curbside service, where you place your piano outside at a certain time, for someone to collect for recycling.

3. Give it to an artist. Contact a local arts council or organization, and make your piano available to them, especially if it's beyond fixing. These artists may use parts of the piano to create artwork. For example, artists from Williamson County, Tennessee recently supported a fundraiser by making art out of unusable piano parts.

4. Make something new from its parts. The piano's wood, keys and wires are just some of the materials that can be recycled for potential craft projects. For instance, crafter Jillian Driedger made a pair of earrings out of ebony keys, after discovering a piano that was bound for the landfill.

5. Contribute to the recycling process by "adopting" a piano. Search antique stores or second-hand instrument shops, or browse the classifieds. There are even companies in some locations that specialize in piano restoration and adoption. The company Grand American Piano Restorations (grandamericanpiano.com) in Moscow, Idaho has such a program. They charge adopters only for the cost of restoring a piano back to life.

References

• The Piano Book -- Buying and Owning a New or Used Piano; Larry Fine
• Anoka County, Minnesota: Recycling Info for a Piano
• Red Ferret: Awesome Art From Recycled Piano Parts
• Etsy: Ebony Wood Earrings Made from Piano Keys
• Grand American Piano: Free Piano Adoption