Gutters Can Help You Make Great Compost
If you’re maintaining a compost pile in your back yard don’t forget to add wet leaves after you clean your gutters. You’ve got to get the debris out anyway. Why let it go to waste? The wet leaves and debris in your gutters are incredibly nutrient-rich, offering a much faster breakdown time than the dry leaves that may be sitting in your compost pile right now.

With Gutters, You Can Harvest Rainwater
Rainwater harvesting is one of the most eco-friendly things you can do. You can’t drink it, because it’s “grey water”, but it is useful in other ways.

In the middle of a drought? Use the rainwater to take on your dying lawn. Or use it regularly in your garden to conserve running water.

It may be difficult to believe in Florida, when 40 to 52 inches of rain drops down on the Tampa Bay Area in any given year, but world wide water shortages are such a concern that some experts are predicting that water will be as valuable as oil by 2030. You can do your part by recycling water that would otherwise go to waste.

Rain water collection systems aren’t hard to integrate with an existing gutter system. It’s basically a combination of your gutters, a good filter, and a storage container. Gutter guards can be very helpful to this effort as they help keep debris out of your water, offering a cleaner, more efficient water gathering system.

The Right Gutters Can Be Recycled
While aluminum gutters are hardy and last a long time, there are circumstances where they may need to be replaced. We favor aluminum gutters in part because we know that they can be recycled.

Often recycling companies will drive out to you to pick up your gutters once they’ve been removed from your home. You can also sometimes sell them for scrap.

Gutter Guards Contribute to Clean Water in Streams, Lakes, and Rivers
Gutters aren’t the only thing that contribute to a greener home. Gutter guards are also extremely helpful.

As mentioned, a lot of debris in your gutters creates a nutrient-rich grey water. This grey water can be very helpful for your plants, but if it washes out to our water ways in storm water then it can actually decrease water quality and kill fish.

The “green” answer is to keep as much debris out of your gutters as possible. Cleaning them twice a year is the bare minimum, but with gutters guards you can reduce the number of cleanings and you can help keep our water runoff cleaner.

Whether it’s helping you make your home more environmentally friendly or simply protecting your home from a Tampa Bay rain storm, we’ve helped many homeowners from St. Petersburg all the way up to Ocala. Call us for a free estimate so you can make your home a little greener with good gutters or leaf guards.