When In Doubt, Don't Throw It Out

March 18, 2008 - Leave a comment...

We Don’t Have To Say GoodbyeYes yes, I know, recycling. It’s been around since the 1970′s as a movement. I have 5 garbage cans in my kitchen because of recycling, isn’t that enough?

Well, there’s a lot more to recycling than just paper, plastic, glass, and cans. A friend recently pointed me to an article called 21 Things You Didn’t Know You Can Recycle Some of the items, like batteries or motor oil, I already knew about, but some were a bit of a surprise:

1. Appliances: Goodwill accepts working appliances, www.goodwill.org, or you can contact the Steel Recycling Institute to recycle them. 800/YES-1-CAN, www.recycle-steel.org.

6. Compact fluorescent bulbs: Take them to your local IKEA store for recycling: www.ikea.com. [Ikea? I had no idea. This is great, considering fluorecents contain mercury, which really shouldn't ever be thrown out.]

20. Tyvek envelopes: Quantities less than 25: Send to Shirley Cimburke, Tyvek Recycling Specialist, 5401 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Spot 197, Room 231, Richmond, VA 23234. Quantities larger than 25, call 866/33-TYVEK.

21 Things You Didn’t Know You Can Recycle
www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/28729

That’s just a few from the list, obviously there’s more. So if you’re lucky enough to live in a town with curbside recycling*, you’ve got most of your work taken care of. I plan to at least save my CFL’s and old computer parts from the trash, now that I know where to send them!

* Right now I live in an upscale Boston suburb… that doesn’t even have regular trash collection, let alone curbside recycling. So if you have it, consider yourself very lucky, and make good use of it!

[tags]Matthew Ebel, piano rock, environment, recycling[/tags]

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  • http://www.christopherspenn.com Christopher S. Penn

    Two more:

    Amvets will come to your house to pick up used but working furniture and appliances, so even if you’re a supremely lazy bastard, you can still recycle.

    The Society of St. Vincent De Paul will take about damn near anything as long as it’s in good condition. It’s a thrift store that then resells your stuff to other people, usually at steeply discounted prices.

    BONUS: by donating used items to charity, you get receipts which, if you itemize your taxes, give you some deductions on your income tax. Tax law permits you to get full book value on items even if they’ve depreciated, as long as they’re in good or great condition when you turn them in to a registered charity.

  • http://www.comedy4cast.com Clinton

    Listen, I’d be happy if my neighbors would just use their recycle bins! We fill the bucket each week and have an additional 2 or 3 bags of paper/cardboard. Some neighbors have nothing or only a half-full bucket of a few plastic items. Come one! You can’t consume THAT much less than we do!