Mommy Goes Green

Christmas is the time of year when everyone gets new electronics so make sure when you get one, you get rid of your old old devices – responsibly.

There are hundreds of different companies that will take your old electronics and recycle them but these organizations take it a step further by offering you something in return.  There’s nothing to lose.  You get to clear out unused stuff in your house and the electronics are recycled responsibly.

Gazelle pays you cash and they take just about type of electronic from digital cameras and laptops to camera equipment, projectors and gaming equipment.  Gazelle will send you a box and shipping is prepaid.

Recycling for Charities takes iPods, digital cameras, cell phones and PDAs.   You choose the charity that will benefit from your donation – there are hundreds and you can add your own.

Apple’s iPod recycling program allows you to bring your old iPod into a retail store and get 10% off a new one.

EcoNEW is an easy way to trade-in your used electronics in exchange for store credit or gift cards.  They take laptops, MP3 players, LCD TVs, LCD monitors, desktops, camcorders, gaming systems, PDAs and digital cameras.   Shipping is prepaid.

BestBuy Trade-in will take gently used electronics in the store and others by mail only.  In addition to the normal iPod, computer and cell phone recycling, they also take car and home audio equipment, GPS receivers and multimedia equipment.  In return, they’ll send you a Best Buy gift card or check (for lesser amount). Shipping is prepaid.

HP Trade-in is a great program for schools or businesses, particularly if you need to purchase new HP products.  The online tool will quote you the trade-in value of your products.  Once you purchase new HP products, you will receive cash back checks in the mail for the value of your trade-ins.  Shipping is prepaid.

Tips for Recycling:

1.  To get the reward, most of these companies expect the product to be in working condition.  Even if you have products that aren’t working – they will still accept them, but without a reward.  Bottom line – make sure to recycle any electronic device, in working condition or not.

2.  Check with the manufacturer of your device first – they may offer the best trade-in value.

3.  Make sure to clear off any data from your device before sending it in.  Many companies will delete the data but you’ll only feel good if you do it yourself first.

4.  Get all the accessories you have for the device – often the trade-in value is higher.

BONUS: Many of these companies will also work with your school or organization to set up fundraising opportunities by recycling electronics.  What school or non-profit couldn’t use some free money?

Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, America’s trash rises by 25% – here are some ideas to make sure you are not a contributor!

1.  BYOB – bring your own bags when Christmas shopping.  Envirosax makes fantastic, stylish bags with plenty of room for your goods.  Decline a bag for every purchase you make and try to stuff it into a bag you are already carrying.

2.  Purchasing gifts -  most of your trash comes from the gift packaging so choose gifts with little to no packaging like gift cards, charity donations or memberships to the zoo, museum, or library. These are great gifts that last long beyond the holiday.

3. Wrapping gifts – wrap gifts in something the recipient can use again like canvas bags, a piece of fabric or cloth napkin with a pretty bow, or a decorative bag or box (reused from previous holidays!).  Kids are always creating art projects at school, use them for wrapping – grandparents will particularly love this!  For large gifts, just tie a bow around it. Ecorations also makes reusable fabric gift wraps and bags.  I love their personalized Santa sacks for kid’s presents!

4. Shipping gifts- if you are shipping gifts, have them sent directly from the store to the recipient.  No use in shipping first to yourself and then shipping again.  Also, reuse Styrofoam packing peanuts, air filled bags or plastic grocery bags to cushion the contents. 

5. Christmas cards and invitations – don’t feel obligated to send a Christmas card if you dread doing it every year.  Most of them end up in the recycle bin anyway.  Families do enjoy getting an update on their friends so try sending an email newsletter, a link to your family blog or an online card.  It’s free, saves you a lot of time and reduces your paper use.    For the Christmas cards you do get, donate them to St. Jude’s Ranch for Children once the holiday is over.  The organization recycles used cards ( for any occasion ) into new cards and sells them, benefiting the abused, abandoned and neglected children at the ranch.  Hosting a holiday party? Use a free online invitation program, like Evite, for customized online invitations.

6. Holiday parties- if you or your company have a holiday party, there is bound to be leftover food.  Call a local agency that will pick up the food and deliver to people who really need it or package it up and have your guests take it home.  Compost fruit and veggie scraps, egg shells and coffee grounds.   During the party, use reusable dishes, utensils and cloth napkins – you can rent them from a party rental company if you need more than you own. 

7.  Opening gifts- when opening gifts, make sure to have 3 bags on hand – one for recyclable packaging and wrapping, one for ribbons and bags that can be reused and one for true trash.  Remember that a lot of things are recyclable, even if it can’t be taken curbside.  It may be an extra trip, but you can take Styrofoam and hard plastic packaging to local facilities to be recycled.  Check Earth911 for a local location.

Ever wonder where the plastic products you recycle goes?  Preserve is one company that takes them to make new personal care, kitchen and tableware products.   All of their products are made in the U.S. from 100% recycled materials.  Better yet, they are all recyclable when you are done using them.

In face, if your community doesn’t recycle #5 plastics, Preserve will take them back to use in their recycling process.  You can drop them off at a local collection site or mail them to Preserve.

Preserve’s personal care product line includes toothbrushes, razors and flavored toothpicks.  Toothbrush handles are made from 100% recycled plastic, including Stonyfield farms yogurt cups and come in soft, medium and hard bristles for both adults and children.  Every three months, when you replace your toothbrush, you can mail the old toothbrush and case (postage paid) back to Preserve and they’ll recycle them into plastic lumber for park benches, decks and more.  They will also take back their razors and tongue cleaners for recycling.  How’s that for full circle?  Love it!

The Home Depot is hosting two recycling events this fall, one for power drills and one for Christmas lights.

Power Drill Exchange DETAILS:

• October 25 – November 18
• Bring in USED or BROKEN drills
• Get 15% OFF a new lithium-ion drill 
• Lithium-ion is a revolutionary technology in cordless tools offering more power and less weight. Lithium-ion chemistry is not harmful to the environment and it outperforms NiCad by as much as 50 percent, requiring less charging time and saving energy.

Christmas Light Exchange DETAILS:

• November 5 – 15
• Bring in USED or BROKEN Christmas lights
• Get $3 OFF LED string Christmas lights
• Limited to 5 strings of lights
• LED lights are shown to use 80 percent less electricity than standard mini lights and last up to 10 times longer. This holiday season, The Home Depot will carry traditional white and multicolored ENERGY STAR qualified LED lights that offer superior connectivity – allowing consumers to link up to 87 strands (or one-quarter mile) of lights off of one outlet without the scare of overloading the circuit.

The next time you clean out your book, media or software collection, consider sending the unwanted items to EcoEncore.  EcoEncore is a non-profit organization that takes your unwanted items and then resells them on Amazon.  Once items are sold, the revenue is used to help support 1 of 15 environmental organizations in the Puget Sound, Washington area.

Acceptable Items for Donation:

•CDs: any full retail version (not copies). No scratches, preferably with original liner notes.

•DVDs: any full retail version (not copies). No scratches, preferably in original case.

•Recent Software and Video Games: full retail versions on CD with a license, less than 2 years old.

•Books: all should be in excellent condition for resale. No ripped pages, excessive highlighting, warped or separated binding, mold/mildew/stains. Normal wear and tear is just fine; covers and pages may be worn at the edges. Best-selling categories include art, philosophy, spirituality / religion, any academic texts less than 5 years old, professional reference materials (i.e. medical, law, engineering, software development) and newer cookbooks. Uncommon titles tend to have the highest resale value!

You can mail all items, along with a donation form, to:

Eco Encore
Attn: Media Donations
900 1st Ave S, Suite #205-B
Seattle, WA 98134

If you live in the Seattle, Washington area, you can drop off the items at one of these locations.

We’ve all got an old stroller ( or 3 ) hanging out in our garage.  If it’s time to get rid of it, don’t put it in the garbage! You have two better choices:

1.  Sell or give it away on Craigslist or Freecycle – there is likely someone in your neighborhood that needs it and a little extra cash in the pocket couldn’t hurt either.

2.  Recycle it – BabyPlanet can take old strollers and recycle 100% of the parts towards new items.  All you have to do is mail it to them :

ECA Inc.

2710 S. 13th Street

Springfield, Illinois 62703

Toys ‘R’ Us is hosting the ‘Great Gear Trade-in Event‘ and is accepting used baby gear such as high chairs, strollers, car seats, cribs and play yards in exchange for 20% off new baby gear.  There is a list of participating brands so make sure to check first before taking them in and the event goes through Sept 20.

I do. not. like. clutter. I don’t like having things in or around my house that are not useful.  I regularly make trips to Goodwill, participate in children’s clothing consignment events and put items on Craigslist or eBay.  It just makes me feel more organized and cleaner when our home and life isn’t cluttered.

Lately, a pile of junk has been piling up along the side of our house – the side no one but I can see.  Old motorcycle tires, a bag of cement left in the rain, and unusable pieces of wood.  I waited (patiently impatiently) for my husband to get rid of them but after 2 summers of staring at the pile, I decided to take care of it myself.

So, with about 15 minutes worth of research and phone calls, I found out where to take our junk – and not to the landfill.  I had my husband load up the truck with all the junk in our garage and along side the house that we weren’t using anymore – it ended up being a lot more than wood, cement and tires.  A landscaping company took all the wood and bag of cement and the tire center took the motorcycle tires – all for a whopping $8.  The best trip of the day was to a recycling facility that took everything else for FREE – satellite dish, steel bars, broken plastic storage tubs, and old plastic outdoor furniture. 

I love that our old stuff won’t be sitting in a landfill for hundreds of years – it will be getting a new life.

If you’ve got junk to get rid of, try these tips to find somewhere to take your stuff :

1.  Dial up Earth911 – it’s a website where you can enter the stuff you want to get rid of and it will tell you what locations will take it in your zip code.

2.  Call your recycling service and ask what other items they might take at their facility, beyond their curbside service.  Our facility was 10 minutes away and took a lot of stuff for FREE. 

3.  If you don’t have curbside recycling service,  call your garbage service and ask for recycling facility recommendations.

4.  If you have electronics to get rid of, find local recyclers here.

5.  If you have hazardous materials, make sure to dispose of them properly.  Hazardous materials include things like batteries, paint, CFL bulbs, propane tanks, pesticides or lawn chemicals, household chemicals (bleach, cleaning supplies) or motor oil.   Many communities have hazardous waste collection events or a facility specifically to take these items.  IKEA stores will take batteries and CFL bulbs inside their store.

Now, I’ve seen the garages in the neighborhood, I know I’m not the only one who needs to get rid of junk – take a load off (literally) today!

It happens almost every time I get a prescription medication – I have a couple pills leftover.  I am TERRIBLE at remembering to take medication more than once per day. I can’t remember what I’ve done with these leftover pills in the past ( maybe thrown them in the trash ) but for the last two years, I’ve held on to any extra pills planning to “dispose of them properly”.  Well, now is the time.  

SmarXt Disposalis a partnership between Fish and Wildlife Service,  the American Pharmacists Association, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.  It is a campaign to educate the public on the most responsible way to dispose of medication – safeguarding lives and protecting the environment.

Pharmaceuticals enter our water from three sources:

1. medicine that has passed through someone without completely metabolizing
2. flushing unused medication down the toilet
3. pouring unused medication down the drain

According to SmarXt Disposal, most scientists have concluded that there is no short-term aquatic life effects due to medication in the environment but work is continuing on evaluation the long-term effects.  The studies also suggest that it is unlikely that the current quantities of medications in the environment are harmful to human health.

Still, I’m not comfortable ingesting even small amounts of medication, regardless of what the ‘current studies show’.  We all know how frequently research changes.

There are a couple ways to dispose of unused medication properly ( prescription or OTC ).  First, see if there is a drug Take Back program in your community, currently 18 states have programs.   Second, contact your local hazardous waste program as they may have organized hazardous waste collection sites or events and take unused medications.  If none of these options exist, dispose of any extra medication ( prescription or not ) in the following way:

1. pour medication into a sealable plastic bag – if the medication is solid (pill or liquid capsule), crush it or add water to dissolve it
2. add kitty litter, sawdust, or coffee grounds (for example) to the plastic bag to make it less appealing to children and pets
3. seal the plastic bag and put it into the trash
4. remove and destroy all personal information on medication containers and recycle them

While sending unused medication to the landfill doesn’t seem like a great choice, it is definitely a better alternative to putting them down the drain or toilet.

What does that recycling symbol on plastic mean?  On most plastics, you will find the 3 arrows with a # in the middle indicating the type of plastic the product is manufactured from.   This number also helps indicate whether or not it is recyclable in the area you live in.  You might find that only a couple types of plastic are recyclable curbside and you may need to store the other plastics and periodically deliver them to another facility.  For example, our recycling curbside service takes a lot of different plastics but I store plastic bags/wrapping and hard plastic containers ( from toy packaging) and take them to a recycling facility about once a month.

1 – PET – Polyethylene terephthalate – commonly used in soft drink and water bottles

2 – HDPE – high-density polyethylene – made from petroleum and commonly used in laundry bottles and milk jugs, plastic bags, plastic lumber and hula hoops

3 – V – vinyl or PVC - rigid plastic, over 50% of PVC manufactured is used in construction.  When used with plasticizers ( to make it softer and flexible), it’s commonly used in hoses, water beds, pool toys, inflatable structures and shower curtains.

4 – LDPE – low-density polyethylene – made from petroleum, it is commonly used in plastic bags, six pack soda can rings, playground slides and food storage containers

5 – PP – polypropylene – commonly used in ropes, rugs, food containers, medical plastic items and dairy containers ( like yogurt )

6 – PS – polystyrene – found in disposable cutlery, CD/DVD cases, and smoke detectors. Foamed polystyrene is used in packing materials, insulation and foam drink cups.

7 – O – other - variety of plastics not fitting in other 6 categories.  Currently controversial polycarbonate with bisphenol A (BPA) is a #7 plastic.