Let's Recycle While You Work at Home!

This information is for the U.S., as I am not familiar with other countries’ recycling policies.
There are many things we can recycle. Below are the most common. These are in addition to any ‘curbside’ recycling your city might have.

If you have a copier you can recycle the toner cartridges quite easily and at no cost to you. Canon includes a free pre-paid shipping label in every package. All you have to do is put the old cartridge in the box, seal it and place the shipping label on the box. Then take it to any “Mail Boxes Etc” and they will send it for you. Other brands like Nukote have a similar program but you have to email them and ask for a label to be sent to you. They pay for you to ship the old cartridges back to them, so it’s FREE to do this.

 Recently some Best Buy, Office Max, and Office Depot stores have started placing recycle bins in their stores for ink cartridges (including copier toner cartridges) and batteries.  Call your nearest location to see if they are participating. This is a really good step toward saving our environment.

You can also make money as a fundraiser by collecting and sending in old cell phones, and used ink cartridges. Check out Planet Green's Recycle website HERE

 Sell your old electronic items at Gazelle:  Click Here

Please don’t just throw these items in the garbage! There’s too much garbage in the world already! And there are lots of recycle options available now.

Some Post Offices have FREE pre-paid plastic mailers for you to return your used printer ink cartridges. Also, most Walmarts have some (near the ink cartridges). Just insert your old cartridge, seal the mailer and drop it into any mailbox. If you can’t find any plastic mailers at the above places, you can request some by calling 1-847-583-1315 (USA) or by writing to:

and ask for ‘Ink Jet Cartridge recycling envelopes’.

And when you replace your printer ink cartridges, consider using remanufactured ones - they’re better for the environment and much cheaper for you! I’ve been using them for several years now and they are great! You can usually save up to 90%. Here are some good places to order from:

ExtraCartridges.com      ABC Ink

You can recycle foam packing peanuts by taking them to most UPS Store locations or MailBox etc. stores.

Most Dry Cleaners will take your wire clothes hangers. Here in San Antonio, we take ours to Pilgrim’s Cleaners. You can always call your local dry cleaner and ask if they take used hangers.

Animal Shelters seem to always need a lot of newspapers. We take ours to the Animal Defense League and they are always very appreciative. If you have old blankets they need those in the cold winter months also. Other used items they can use are: plastic grocery bags, can openers, leashes, large and x-large crates, towels,heavy duty water hoses, heating pads, dog brushes, dog nail clippers, brooms, collars or harnesses.

Most shelters are also very happy to have people donate their time whether it’s in the office or cleaning out cages, or walking and playing with the animals.

Make the most of working at home. You have the advantage of being able to take time off to do these little things that make a big difference!