5 Things You Didn’t Know Could Be Recycled
Aluminum cans, paper, and plastic are synonymous with the word recycling, but did you know about these 5 surprising items that you can recycle along with your other items?
1. Flip Flops
Flip flops are being recycled into garbage cans, chairs, rubber bands and much more. Recycling company, TerraCycle, is recruiting for their Flip Flop Brigade. They want you to save up your old flip flops and donate them in exchange for Old Navy coupons. You’ll need to send in at least 10 or 20 pairs at a time to qualify for the program, so feel free to ask friends and family to give you their old flip flops as they wear them out. It’s free and easy to participate anywhere. TerraCycle offers free shipping vouchers when you register on their website.
2. Corks
Old wine corks are easily repurposed—vase filler, place card holders, decorations—but did you know they can also be recycled? ReCORK America did. They’ve partnered with national retailers to establish wine cork collection locations nationwide. In addition, the organization partners with restaurants, businesses, resorts, wineries and wine retailers to collect their used corks from day-to-day business operations and recycle them into new stuff such as flooring, wall art, shoes, and other unusual items.
Take those half-empty paint cans out of your storage shed and turn them into a recycled paint retailer near you. Those creative geniuses will mix and match your leftover paint with other returned paint to create new colors and shades to sell or donate.
This is only good for latex paint; you’ll still need to dispose of oil-based paint as a household hazardous waste item.
3. Crayons
Almost 50,000 pounds of crayons have been saved from the landfill by theNational Crayon Recycle Program operated by Crazy Crayons, LLC. They offer drop-off bins nationwide and a mail-back option for unwanted and broken crayons, to be recycled—you guessed it—into new crayons. If you’d rather not participate, you can always donate unbroken crayons to your local school or art program.
4. Paper Towels
Every time we dry our hands or wipe a counter top with a paper towel, we’re adding to the world’s garbage problem. Now Canada has worked out a way to recycle paper towels, despite the fact that they’re receptacles of bacteria – the reason they couldn’t be recycled in the past.
Partners for a Green Hill turns used paper towels into compost and spreads it around toxic landfill zones to try and enrich the soil.
Until we start a similar US-based program, let’s monitor our paper towel consumption and use washable dishtowels, air hand dryers, and eco-friendly cleaning products instead.
5. Roof Shingles
When the rain starts leaking onto the floors, it’s time to replace the shingles on the roof. In the past the old shingles would be destined for the garbage truck, but now Missouri-based resource recovery company, Roofs to Roads, is turning old shingles into smooth roads.
According to the company’s website, more than 276 million pounds of roofing shingles are dumped into Missouri landfills every year. That’s enough shingles to completely cover St. Louis City and St. Louis County.
Here’s hoping more states catch on to this ingenious recycling plan!
Have you heard of something else surprising to recycle? How far have you gone to recycle something or add more environmental services to your lifestyle? Let us know here or chat with us on Facebook and Twitter.
