Everyone is concerned (and rightly so) with the BP Oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the need to conserve our natural resources is in the forefront of everyone’s minds. Before we get settled back in our ways, and the next big news story hits, it might do us well to clear out the clutter of our homes and start recycling where we live. Look around you. We have a mess in all of our homes that could be cleaned up, but without thinking, all of this junk could end up in a landfill somewhere. That doesn’t help the earth. Let’s start with these five tips and help to save our planet.
Regift Those Items You Don’t Want Or Need
What are you really going to do with Aunt Libby’s gravy ladle she bought you for your wedding? It’s probably been sitting on a shelf somewhere waiting for the time – 15 years later – that Aunt Libby stops by and you have the opportunity to have gravy. Get rid of that item! Have a garage or yard sale and let someone else cherish that item. Better yet, donate the item to Goodwill or the Salvation Army and they can make sure it finds its way into a good home where they eat lots of gravy. At least it is out of your house and not in a landfill.
Save A Tree – Read A Book Online
How many of us have boxes and boxes of paperback books and old textbooks or magazines laying around in boxes in the attic? Sure, you’ve always pictured the day you’d have a wonderful library like you see in the movies to impress your friends with your pretentious reading skills, but somehow, that beat up copy of Salem’s Lot by Stephen King just doesn’t have the allure of a leather bound original Charles Dicken’s classic. Did you know that you can buy books for your computer now? There is no need to actually kill a tree to have some enjoyment. You can also read books on your iPod Touch or iPad or Kindle. Sure, they cost a little more, at first, but you can help save the environment at the same time you are reading, isn’t it worth a couple of extra pennies? If reading online isn’t your bag, the government has set up this wonderful little system for us all called, the library. You can go down to your local library and get books to read for free. If they don’t have the book you want, you can sometimes even order it. The same holds true for other types of media, like DVDs and CDs. So what do you do with all of the extra books you no longer need. Seriously, how many times are you going to read War and Peace? You have a few options here. Once again, sell them at a yard sale, put them on eBay, sell them to a used book store or give them to your favorite charity. Here is a list of places that would like your old books. Just remember, though, if you wouldn’t want those books in your living room, it’s probably likely no one else will want them either.
List of places to donate books:
Shelters – People who are in these places sometimes have kids with them, and even homeless shelters could use books for the people staying there. Your gift of books would be very much appreciated.
Hospitals – While we often think of a hospital as a place for the sick and dying, the patients could use a good story. Check with your local hospital for a donation.
Prisons – I wouldn’t recommend giving “The Count Of Monte Cristo” or “The Great Escape” to your local prison, but these facilities are always looking for books to offer the inmates for their libraries.
Local Schools – What a great place to give your collection of children’s books now that your kids have grown up and have left the house. Local schools are always in dire need of funds, as it is, so helping them promote their libraries would be appreciated.
The Library – It’s a place with books, but they can always use some more. Why not give them some books so other people can enjoy them, too?
Thrift Stores – These stores (along with Goodwill and Salvation Army) can always use your support.
Get Rid Of Your VHS Tapes
You may not want to believe it, but VHS tapes are obsolete. DVDs are not even the latest technology anymore, so why are you hanging on to boxes and boxes of VHS tapes that you never watch because your VCR has been broken since 1992? Once again, your option can be to sell them yourself for a buck or two and donations. Here is a place, though, that will take your old video tapes and make sure they are recycled properly:
Mail To:
ACT (Alternative Community Training)
2200 Burlington
Columbia, MO 65202
This company is a non-profit company out of Missouri provides jobs to people with disabilities. Workers erase the tapes, reselling the ones that are in good shape and recycling the plastic parts of the rest. They’ve recycled more than 1 million tapes so far. When mailing your video tapes to them, make sure you send the items by USPS ground shipping to add an extra bit of green to your recycling.
Clearing Out The Old Technology For The New
Every time I need a new device on the market, I rush out to my favorite electronics store and buy what’s hot and new. I come home and introduce the new gizmo to my old collection of toys and they all get along perfectly. However, after years of doing this, I literally have closets full of old CD players, MP3s, computers, scanners, printers, and accessories to go right along with them. If I could clear these items out, it would free up room for me, my wife would love it, and I could buy more stuff! Well, we are in luck! If you want to get rid of those items, you can sell them to these online stores. You can go to Gazelle.com (http://www.gazelle.com/) or Techforward (http://www.techforward.com/) and they will give you cash for your electronic items. You can also go it yourself and sell your items through eBay’s Forward Initiative (http://pages.ebay.com/rethink/). If you don’t care about the money, you can always check out one of my favorite sites for recycling: Freecycle (http://www.freecycle.org). Through this group, you can post items you want to give away and search for items you are looking for. Items, as the name suggests, are free. Additionally, you might want to check with the manufacturing company of all of your old products. Companies like Sony, Samsung, and Nokia take items back for free and recycle them and you can even contact your local Best Buy to take your items away.
Building Materials
Remember last Spring when you had plans to put in that new deck, yet it never got done? Well, if you have all of those building materials lying about, you can recycle those, as well. There are places that will actually take your old bricks, wood, and other building supplies and put them to good use. They also take them out of view from your wife who will constantly remind you that you never finished that project you promised to do – freeing up more time for sports! You get a neat work area and get to drink beer! What could be better? Here is a list of things you can get rid of:
Bricks: Using used brick on a construction project is an environmentally friendly building strategy that’s becoming much more popular. You can usually put sign on your bricks and have them hauled away for you. If you know any contractors, you are almost guaranteed that they will take your bricks for use on a new project.
Wood: You can get rid of your excess wood online at such places as Craigslist.com and Recycle.net. People are always willing to reuse that wood that you have scraps of (or even whole pieces) for their own home projects and for artwork or crafts. Let people know you have it and they will come out of the…err…woodwork…
Shingles: Are you fixing up your roof this summer? Why toss all of those shingles into some landfill? At ShingleRecycling.org (http://www.shinglerecycling.org/), they can show you ways to get rid of those shingles and help the environment all along!
Carpeting: Each year, over 5 billion pounds of carpeting end up in landfills. Some are made out of synthetic materials that never rot. There is a company called, CARE, the Carpet America Recovery Effort, that can help you to find out how to keep those carpets out of the holes in the ground and reused in some fashion for others. You can find their web site at: http://www.carpetrecovery.org/
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