Generally, when people buy a new car, they either trade in their old car or sell it. In some cases, however, your old car may be in such poor condition that you can no longer even do that. While we already discussed how to best dispose of hazardous chemicals, you may be interested in learning more about your options for disposing of your car. For the environmentally conscious, there are many environmentally friendly ways to dispose of your old car. In some cases, there may even be some money in it for you. Here are four ways to dispose of your old car while still protecting the environment.
Part It Out
In many cases, you can make more money from your car by selling its pieces and parts than by selling it whole. If you have the time and the know-how, you can sell individual parts on eBay or some other e-commerce site. When you have sold all you can, you can give the rest to a scrapyard. Do not try to dispose of the items yourself! While it might seem easy to dispose of tires, the steel rims can present a serious disposal hazard.
Sell it to a Pick-n-Pull
If you don't want to part out your car on your own, you can often sell it to a business that owns a lot where people can go and pull parts themselves. You may only get a few hundred dollars for it, while the lot owner may make a few thousand dollars off it, but at least you won't have to do all the work yourself, and you still walk away with a few hundred dollars.
Donate it to Charity
In some cases, your car may merely need repairs that are worth more than the car itself. There are many charities, however, that can often get the labor, and sometimes even the part donated to get the car in working order again. Then the charity can sell it and keep the proceeds. Someone that needs a car gets an inexpensive car, and the charity receives a reasonable donation. Win all around.
Scrapyard
If there is nothing or nothing left on your car worth salvaging you may want to call a scrapper to come and pick it up. It is unlikely that you will get any money for it, but you will also most likely not have to pay to have it taken off your hands. You will still have to prepare the car for salvaging, however, by removing the tires and wheels, draining the fluids and removing the battery.
No matter how beaten up or broken down your car may be, there are still a significant number of ways of disposing of it properly. While it may seem more straightforward and more accessible to leave it on the side of the road or roll it off a cliff somewhere, your planet will thank you for not doing it!
Featured image credit: The Clunker Junker