We all know how to recycle paper and plastic goods. You can find this information on your local waste management website or have it mailed to you. These are the most common things that they take care of, but I bet there are quite a few things out there that you had never considered recycling. Here are a few of them to help you up your recycling game.

Christmas Trees
After New Year’s Eve, you take down all your Christmas decorations and drag your tree out to the curb. Of course it’s only once a year, but they can be converted into fish feeders and used for soil erosion barriers. Check with your city to see if they offer this program, or if they are aware of places that can help you.

Crayons
When your children have broken every crayon in the pack, most parents throw them away. With 60 tons of crayons produced in the U.S. every day, this can create very colorful landfills. Instead, you can ship your broken and unwanted crayons to Crazy Crayons where they will melt them down to create new crayons. There is no prep work, as in removing the wrappers, that you need to do before you send them off.

Carpet
Once you have yanked out all the old carpet and padding materials, don’t put it on the curb next to your Christmas tree. Carpeting accounts for four percent of landfills and takes over 50 years to decompose, second only to diapers. Check with the manufacturer and ask them if they offer a recycling program for their carpets. If they don’t, the Carpet America Recovery Effort can help you get in touch with a place in your area that can.

Cigarette Butts
Smoking is a bad enough habit, but worse over is throwing the cigarette butts on the ground when you are finished. They are the predominant waste produce found in the ocean and National Geographic considers them to be the “world’s number one litter problem.” They are often eaten by birds and fish that can choke on the butts or are poisoned from the toxins. Instead of tossing the cigarette butts on the ground, collect and ship them to TerraCycle so they can be converting into things like park benches, composite lumber, and plastic pellets.

Cereal Bags
Another program TerraCycle offers is the recycling of cereal bags. They are made of high density polyethylene, also known as HDPE or recycling number 2. If you prefer not to mail the bags, most grocery stores offer bins you can put them in next to the grocery bags they collect, or check Plastic Film Recycling’s website to find one close to you. The types of products they are turned into are garbage cans, outdoor pavers and lumber.

We might not live on this Earth for a relatively long time, but there will be generations after us that need our help in keeping the planet cleaner. Instead of tossing out items we no longer find useful, let’s try to bring them to the people who do.

Jessica Kane is a professional blogger who writes for Econoheat., the world’s #1 leading manufacturer of the largest waste oil burning product line.
http://www.econoheat.com

So you’ve decided to do something about that outdated or unsightly backyard, and now you’re left with a pile of broken concrete that needs to go. What’s worse is that the City of Toronto doesn’t do curbside pickup of concrete, and none of the Garbage and Recycling Drop-Off Depots accept it. What can you do?

As long as the concrete is clean fill, that is, it’s unreinforced and doesn’t have re-bar, there’s a few cost effective solutions you can use to get rid of it.

The Leslie Street Spit Landfill
If you have a means of hauling the concrete waste, you can bring it to the Leslie Street Spit for a flat, tax-free $33 fee. The landfill is open Monday to Friday from 7:30am to 4:15pm. This is the best option for residents in the Downtown Core and surrounding areas. You’ll need a pick-up or truck capable of transporting the waste safely, and we should mention that multiple trips will require paying a fee for each time the Landfill is entered.
For more information, check out the Toronto Port Leslie Spit Website:
http://www.torontoport.com/Port/Harbour-Maintenance/Leslie-Spit.aspx

McCleary Court Community Environmental Centre in Vaughan
If you’re a York Region resident, the McCleary Court location accepts unreinforced concrete. They are open Thursday to Monday during the summer from 9:30am to 4:30pm, with extended hours until 7:00pm on Thursdays. Fees start at $10 for cars or vans, and go up to $30 for pick-up trucks.

For more information, visit the Waste Depots Page on the Region of York website and look for the McCleary Court pulldown:
http://www.york.ca/wps/portal/yorkhome/environment/yr/garbageandrecycling/wastedepots

Finally, for large or heavy loads, or if you do not have access to a method of transporting the concrete, consider using a private waste removal company for your concrete disposal. The major advantage being that it will take you a lot less time to get rid of it.

With prices for bins starting at just $250 – Greenbelt Environmental Services can make the job of disposing of your concrete waste much easier. Give us a call to get a quote today!