Most of us have reached the point where recycling is second nature. But even the most diligent might be overlooking household items that clutter up our space...toothpaste tubes, razor handles and even old cassettes. Find out where they can be recycled below the jump!
EcoMetro, a fabulous "guide to green" in Portland and beyond, offered these suggestions on recycling the unconventional in your home.
Tom’s of Maine toothpaste tubes:
In order to recycle, remove the plastic cap and the plastic threaded covering on the neck of the tube, then sort them with your aluminum cans for recycling. According to their website, “any toothpaste left in the tube and the food-grade plastic liner does not affect the tube's recyclability. When the aluminum is processed, any residual toothpaste as well as the food-grade liner melts away without contaminating the recycled product.” They will also recycle tubes for you. Just mail to Tom’s of Maine, Consumer Dialogue Team, 302 Lafayette Center, Kennebunk, ME 04043.
Used toothbrushes and razor handles:
Check out Preserve, providers of recyclable toothbrushes, razors, tableware and cookware. Print out a postage-paid label and send in your used toothbrushes and razor handles to be recycled into plastic lumber for park benches or decks. Plus, their Gimme 5 program lets you send in #5 plastics (yogurt cups, for example) to be recycled into products with a new life.
Old VHS tapes and cassettes:
Green Disk accepts all forms of electronic media and their cases: diskettes, zip disks, CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVDs, video tape, audio tape and game cartridges. And while they're currently not accepting donations, Sonic Fabric also recycles old cassette tapes into neckties and other accessories.
So what's in your garbage that shouldn't be?
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Comments (8)
Cardboard paper towel & toilet paper tubes... I pull the plastic window out of my pasta boxes and put the box in with the paper recycling too :)
Actually, I read somewhere that for those "plastic windows" on envelopes, it's okay to put in recycle without removing them.
so what happens when you take my philosophy of recycling - put any forms of plastic/carboard/aluminum/metals and put it in the blue bin for pick up on monday morning?
i put all plastic and paper in the recycling bin. if its not recyclable, they can throw it out at the recycling plant. also, i'm limited to the amount of garbage i can throw away each week (actually -- in toronto we have garbage collected one week and recycling the other week, but compost every week)
i've been recycling razors and toothpaste tubes forever, i recycle everything i can. i just take monthly trips to the local transfer station.
chumsabilly and KatieCh - The problem with putting items that cannot be recycled by your recycling program into the bin with the rest of the stuff is that some programs don't go to the trouble to sort and will toss an entire batch if there is too much unrecyclable stuff in there.
Unfortunately, recycling differs in all of our cities. L.A. is has stepped up its program and has curbside pick-up of compost and green waste. NYC and DC have nothing. L.A. can put all of their recyclables (paper, cardboard, glass, plastic bottles, plastic bags and packaging, etc.) into their blue bin (provided by the city). NYC has to separate paper/cardboard from glass/plastic bottles. Only plastic bottles can be recycled, no other plastic shapes ! DC has to separate, but they can recycle all different plastic shapes.
Why can't all of our cities see the environmental and economical incentives for recycling all of our possible waste?
thanks for the clear up Lily.