• Recycling Surprises: Ten Things You’ve Been Throwing Away That You Can Recycle


  • Newspapers, aluminum cans, plastic and glass bottles are likely the first things to come to mind when you think of recycling; and, people interested in going green seem to focus on these specific items when implementing a home or business recycling program. You can find your area recycling centers at www.republicservices.com. While that is a good start, it is only the beginning of a long list of items that can be recycled.

    Earth911.com suggests there are ten items people are regularly throwing away when they could be recycling them. Could you be doing more to reduce your environmental impact? Check out this list of items that you can recycle to help in the efforts to save the earth.

    Keys
    Chances are pretty high that you have some old keys lying around that you no longer need. Since keys are metal, they make a good candidate for recycling. You can send old keys to Keys for Kindness, where they are recycled and the money raised is donated to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of New York. Recycling keys is green and helps out a charitable organization.

    Wine Corks
    If you drink a lot of wine, be sure to save those corks for recycling. The wine corks can be reused in things such as bulletin boards, shoe soles and tile for floors. ReCORK America accepts your old wine corks at a variety of drop-off locations.

    Trophies
    Instead of tossing all those tee-ball and cheerleading trophies in the garbage, you can actually re-purpose them by making a donation to a trophy recycling program. According to HowToDonateGuide.com, two organizations in the United States accept trophies for recycling. The organizations clean up the trophies so that they can be re-used by non-profits.

    Rechargeable Batteries
    Some states ban rechargeable batteries from landfills, but there are alternate methods to recycling batteries. Call2Recycle makes recycling rechargeable batteries easy by giving you locations to dispose of your used batteries. All you have to do is enter your zip code on their drop off locations page.

    Surfboards
    If your days of “hanging 10” are behind you, that old surfboard can be recycled. The boards can be used to create things such as concrete aggregate, art, furniture and new surfboards. And, if the surfboard is still in good condition, it can be recycled by giving it to a new owner via Board Recycler or Surfer’s Healing.

    Certain Cotton Products
    Do you have a compost bin at home? If so, you can recycle cotton balls, dryer lint and cotton swabs by putting them in your compost. Just be sure to only add cotton swabs that have cardboard rather than plastic handles. Old wool or cotton clothing that has been shredded can also be added to the compost bin.

    Blue Jeans
    While you can donate your old jeans to a thrift shop, damaged pairs can be recycled into insulation and other products. Textile recycling companies like 7th Generation Recycling accept jeans and other old clothing for recycling.

    Golf Balls
    Got some old golf balls that you no longer use? No need to leave them in a sand trap—they can actually be recycled! Golf balls are made of plastic and rubber, which allows them to be recycled. Some places even take old golf balls and recycle them to sell to other people.

    Hair
    Whether you are a salon owner or someone who cuts their own hair, you can recycle those hair clippings. One recycle option is to add them to the compost bin. Another option is to send the hair to an organization that collects hair donations to make booms for soaking up oil.

    Crayons
    When your kids are ready for a new box of crayons, they can be used to make brand new crayons for other kids. The National Crayon Recycle Program accepts any unwanted crayons for recycling. This keeps the petroleum-based item out of landfills.

    There are many ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Recycling is a great start!

    Posted in Topics:Recycle, Tags: , on August 23, 2012