WHY RECYCLE?

 USED INK CARTRIDGES:

Global awareness of our planet's environmental status is at an all-time high.  As well it should be.  From the automotive industry releasing more and more hybrid models and families separating glass and metal from their daily garbage, a conscious effort has begun to decrease our generation's environmental footprint.  Recycling offers another chance for us to do our part.  How important is it to recycle inkjet and laser toner cartridges? Very.  Every year millions of laser and inkjet cartridges are simply discarded in  our everyday trash and end up in local landfills and incinerators.  On average, only twenty percent of petroleum, plastic-based cartridges will be recycled.  The remaining eighty percent will find their way to landfills and incinerators.  Forty percent of most toner cartridges are made up of a high polymer plastic that takes over 1,000 years to decompose.  Three quarts of oil is required for the production of almost every laser toner cartridge, while two ounces are used for most inkjets.  Recycling these products will help decrease oil consumption and lower the amount of local tax dollars being allocated to landfill management.  A high percentage of laser cartridges and inkjets can be remanufactured and refilled.  Buying these reconditioned cartridges will help lower the need of new cartridges to be produced.  The less new material that is manufactured, the less that can be thrown away.  These reusable cartridges cost considerably less and work just as well. Recycling offers an opportunity for everyone to take part in this effort to decrease their own environmental footprint.

OLD CELL PHONES:

There are more than 500 million used cell phones in the U.S. sitting in people's drawers or worse, in our landfills, and another 130 million will be added this year alone!  One in three Americans will replace their cell phones this year, adding to the 500 million unused phones currently waiting to be discarded or recycled.

Cell phones and accessories are made from valuable resources such as precious metals, copper, and plastics - all of which require energy to extract and manufacture. Recycling cell phones reduces greenhouse gas emissions, keeps valuable material out of landfills and incinerators, and conserves natural resources. Cell phones contain toxic metals that can pollute the environment and threaten human health. When recycled responsibly, the metals can be put back into circulation, decreasing the need for new metal mining.  Recycling just a million cell phones reduces greenhouse gas emissions equal to taking 1,368 cars off the road for a year.  Cell phone recycling and wireless recycling programs keep valuable materials out of landfills, including an estimated $630,000 of precious metals from circuit boards, and enough copper from phone chargers to recover the Statue of Liberty, twice.

SUPPORT YOUR SCHOOLS, AND THE EARTH, BY DROPPING OFF YOUR OLD CELL PHONES, AND USED PRINTER CARTRIDGES IN THE BINS LOCATED IN THE LOBBIES OF BARCLAY BROOK AND BROOKSIDE, OR IN THE CONTAINER IN THE OFFICE OF OAK TREE.

THANK YOU.  ANY QUESTIONS CONTACT CHERYL/PTA at CASHFORTRASH@BBBSPTA.ORG