Finally - Recycling for Brita filters!

This is the one you've all been waiting for! Brita filter recycling! Of course we've all wondered if it is possible, and now it is.

This came to my inbox via a Brita newsletter:

1: Dry your filter by skaing off any excess water and letting stand to dry at least 3 days.

2. Wrap the filter in a plastic grocery bag.

3. Find a drop off location on the Preserve website. A lot of Whole Foods are now participating in this program and have drop boxes.

If you are not near a drop off site, you can send your dry wrapped filter, packed in a box to : Preserve Gimmie 5 823 NYS Route 13, Cortland NY 13045

Yeehaw!

Textile Recycling

I don't want to throw old clothes out! But, if you can't / don't want to make rags out of them, what do you do?

The only thing I have found close to being able to recycle clothing and textiles is ALA Recycling. (www.alarecycling.com) But it isn't apparent on their website if you can drop off smal quantities of stuff to them - they may only operate in big markets....

Will find out more soon.... it's worth looking in to!

Carpet Reclamation

Carpet is one of those things that seems like it would be very hard to recycle... mainly because it's made out of so many different materials (the hard/rubbery backing, the different fibers that make up the surface). Most people (in the past, me included!) seem to prefer chucking their stained old carpets in the dumpster to figuring out a way to recycle them. Carpetrecovery.org estimates that 5 BILLION pounds of carpet was sent to landfills in 2003.

But... there is hope! There are companies out there that do reclaim and recycle carpets... though finding one in your area may take a little bit of work. Luckily, a group called Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) has put together a list of carpet reclamation centers in the U.S. - check it out here.

Where Can I Recycle This?

Is it just me, or can it be difficult to figure out where to recycle some things? For example… I have a hairdryer that is on its last legs. I know I can bring it to my local transfer station, pay a fee, and have them take it off my hands. But is there a charity or small business that might be able to make good use of my old hairdryer parts? Does anyone know?

This blog feature is going to be dedicated to finding out where you can recycle all of those old random things that have been sitting in your closet/basement/under your bed for the last year.

I just recently discovered that you can recycle your old backpacks through the American Birding Society. This is exciting news to me, as I have old backpacks dating back to elementary school sitting in a pile in my basement. Check it out: http://www.americanbirding.org/bex/items.html . The catch? They must still be in good working order, and you have to pay to mail them in yourself. The reward? Donations are tax deductible (your backpack donation will be acknowledged with a letter). The bigger reward? Your old backpack won’t be sitting in a landfill for a thousand years, cluttering up the earth for your great great grandkids. Oh yeah, and if you have any unused field guides to neotropical birds laying around the house, you can donate those too.