How do I recycle this?!

Got something to recycle and keep out of a landfill?

Many everyday items cannot simply be tossed to the curb or dumped into the trash. Electronics, batteries, and compact-fluorescent light bulbs are a few examples. We cannot put them to the curb in the trash or the recycle bin, so what do we do with them? And so many other items have a life long beyond what we use them for at home. For example, a local organization near my home takes denim jeans and turns them into handbags that are later sold for a profit that goes to a community of adults with special needs. Another organization I know of collects broken crayons, melts them down, and reshapes them into larger crayons that can be held by children with developmental needs.

So where can you get rid of random stuff and still help the planet?

1. One good place to start is by visiting the website http://earth911.com/ At Earth 911 you can simply type in your zip code and the item you hope to recycle and will find a list of facilities and organizations nearest to you that are accepting those items.

2. You can also visit the EPA’s wastes website where they will let you know the hazards and dangers lurking in many household items as well as the proper methods for disposing of household hazardous waste http://www.epa.gov/waste/index.htm

3. Another place to start looking is to visit your local county’s website. Many now have resource lists for how to dispose of items that can be reused or recycled. They list local guidelines and often include a list of events and organizations that host events to collect materials like electronics, cell phones, etc.

4. Finally, simply google an item and try to find an organization who would like to collect those materials. There are organizations refurbishing, reusing, and recreating everything from Christmas lights to bras. Spend some time searching, chances are what you have is wanted by someone. As the saying goes, “One woman’s trash is another’s treasure!”