Recycling At Home

I don’t know how many of you moms are into recycling, but I am.  I first started doing recycling as a way to bring in some extra money.  I don’t make a ton of money doing it because I focus mainly on our family usage, but I do know of others who will scour neighborhoods and businesses looking in trash cans for recyclable items. 

So why do I recycle?  For several reasons.  First of all, it brings in extra  money.  We give the money to the kids in lieu of an allowance.  That way, they have something to put in their piggy banks that they know they contributed to.  I take Felicity and Chase to the recycling center with me and they help me sort all of our plastic and glass items into bins.  They feel a sense of pride and accomplishment at doing something that not only helps us, but helps the planet.  Felicity learned about recycling in school and it made an impact on her.  She feels a sense of responsible by doing it.  And of course, they are also jazzed when I give them their money. 

Ink cartridges for printers are another great item to recycle.  Companies are making it easier to recycle them.  Hewlett Packard usually includes envelopes with their ink cartridges that you can use to send your old ones back to them for recycling.  Best Buy stores also have a recycling recepticle that accepts not only ink cartridges but also used cell phones and batteries.  I like to recycle my ink cartridges at Staples because with their Staples Rewards program, I get money sent to me for each cartridge I turn in.  I use that money to buy new ink cartridges, school supplies, paper, or any other office supply I might need.

Batteries are another item I recycle.  I don’t get any money from recycling them, but after I read about how dangerous it could be if the mercury inside leaked out, I decided to do the socially responsible thing and recycle them.  Staples and Best Buy will both recycle the batteries free of charge.  I have also seen battery recycling signs at Target. 

Other items that can be recycled range from cell phones to prom dresses.  Cell phones can be recycled at places such as Best Buy and Whole Foods.   Best Buy offers free gift cards for recycling electronic items such as computers, monitors, and printers that were purchased at their store, and I believe Costco has an electronics trade-in program.  LensCrafters collects used eyeglass donations and distributes them to people worldwide who don’t have access to eye care.  Old bridesmaid and prom dresses can be donated to several organizations, including donatemydress.org, who provides prom dresses for girls from lower-income families to wear to prom.

I guess you can tell I get excited about this topic.  I’d love to hear other ways people recycle.  Recycling not only helps the planet, it helps us help each other.