Most of us have become so used to seeing satellite dishes outside of our homes that we forget the technology has gotten a little bit, well, old. Remember the giant satellite dishes our parents spent hour agononizing over installtion and setup?
That’s not to say satellite technology is out-of-date – but it does suggest that many of us have moved on from our original satellites in favor of something new, and smaller, even if it’s a newer satellite dish. And seeing as how we’re encountering “old” satellite technology for the first time, it’s not surprising if you don’t know what to do with a satellite dish you’re not using anymore. Luckily, that’s exactly what we’re here to inform you.
1. Gardening.
Yes, this means that yesterday’s satellite dish has become today’s bird bath, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. If you like to get creative with the way you garden, then an old satellite dish that has no use except for its basic hardware should represent an exciting challenge. And you don’t have to use it as a bird bath; you can use an old dish as a structure to plant something new (as long as you fill it with soil first) or to reinforce some part of your backyard that was previously unstable. Sure, it might not be the prettiest solution in the book, but it means you’ll get more use out of your dish.
Here’s one used in the garden…
2. Repurposing outdoors.
Instead of plopping down your satellite dish outdoors and doing a “voila! Now it’s a bird bath!” routine, you could actually repurpose the satellite dish in some way; for example, a popular solution is to use the dish as a base for a new bird house. This will attract more birds to your garden and backyard, thus becoming a little bit more than “landscaping” and actually changing the way wildlife interacts with your land.
Or we could just go surfing…
3. Pergola roof.
Large satellite dishes – you know, the older ones that needed to be large in order to act as a status symbol – offer a lot of shade, which is a major advantage if you’re in need of a Pergola roof in the backyard garden. Admittedly, you might want to do some modification to the dish itself – painting over the logo, for example – if you’re going to repurpose it in this way, but that little bit of work beats actually going out and purchasing a Pergola roof on your own. Plus, you get to recycle!
Build a Palapa!
4. Halloween costumes.
Satellites make great shields for Halloween costumes; think about repurposing your dish as the shield of Captain America or as a Spartan shield. You’d be surprised at how quickly a satellite dish matches the rest of a costume, and you’ll get to exercise a little bit of creativity when doing the painting or coloring on the dish.
There are also some high-tech uses for old satellite dishes – such as boosting a WiFi signal – but there’s nothing wrong with repurposing a satellite for a more low-tech purpose. Just do a little bit of re-visualization and your old satellite should fit right in with the rest of your life.
Michael “Big Mike” McCaffery is a marketing strategist for Go Dish. Click here to discover the ways modern dish technology can give you the services you desire at a competetive price.