New Ways To Recycle

Most curbside recycling programs and collection centers accept a very specific and somewhat limited set of items. The usual suspects are #1 and #2 plastics, paper of all kinds, and aluminum cans. Sometimes corrugated cardboard, metal food cans, and glass containers are accepted as well. But in our over-packaged society, there's always a lot of waste left behind after the recycling bins have been carried out.

Over the last few years, I've stumbled onto a few less-conventional avenues for recycling and reusing some things that our curbside recycling won't take. By making a few calls around town, you might be able to find places to offload your extra odds and ends. Here are the little-known recycling options I've found:

>> The local nature center collects empty TP and paper towel tubes and unwanted CDs to use for children's crafts.

>> The local Keep America Beautiful affiliate is collecting plastic caps and lids (which recycling processors almost never want) to eventually have made into a recycled-plastic bench. I've also heard of the local community art center taking them for projects.

>> My workplace collects plastic film canisters to use for science projects, and the nature center also uses them for activities.

Rather than calling and asking, "Do you collect toilet paper tubes?" you might just call likely places and ask them if they're currently in need of any items that you can save for them.

For more complicated items like old electronics, check and see if your local solid waste management district or some other entity has a e-waste collection day. My county has separate collection days for recyclable electronics, toxic household items, and tires. I think they also run a Christmas tree recycling program at the end of each year! If your local area doesn't have an e-waste recycling program, you might consider recycling your "technotrash" through GreenDisk, which accepts everything from cords to video game cartridges, from CDs to PCs.

It's Our Earth, the company that makes the wicked-awesome recycled disk notebooks that Kerri Anne featured last month, accepts all kinds of things for "upcycling" into new products. A full list of the items they accept can be found here.

With innovative options like this available, it's easier than ever to pare down our waste streams and reduce our environmental impact, one milk jug cap at a time.

An original 5 Minutes for Going Green post. On most days you can find Velocibadgergirl at Pardon the Egg Salad, where she blogs about travel, her spoiled pets, science geekery, and whatever else comes to mind.

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