Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with recycling

Toronto electronics disposal?

LukeyBoy — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:40:08 -0800

Where can I dispose of broken tech and appliances in Toronto? I've got a bunch of old, dead computer parts, a busted laptop, a dead vacuum, and well the list goes on. I've been hoarding them since I can't just toss them in the garbage obviously. We're paying a disposal tax now on all electronics purchases and I thought that disposal centers went along with that but I can't seem to find them. Anyone know the best way to dispose of this stuff? Thanks.

Recycling urinary catheters?

wetpaint — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:51:21 -0800

Can I recycle used urinary catheters? I have a neurogenic bladder and pee through disposable plastic tubes. Yep, it's about as much fun as it sounds :) Anyway, I use 10-12 disposable catheters a day, and it all adds up to a big pile of ugly garbage. I'd like to recycle the catheters, but I wonder if they're considered medical waste and shouldn't be tossed in with my plastics and bottles. (By the way, I've tried reusable catheters, and let's just say that things didn't quite work out.) In case it matters, the brand is Mentor non-latex disposable catheters.

What is a dead car worth?

anastasiav — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:40:59 -0800

I own a 1997 VW Golf that threw a rod in 2004 and has been sitting (inside a garage) ever since. Donating it to charity has no tax benefit for me. It needs to go. Does it have any cash value at all? If so, how much? I've been looking on Craigslist, and there have been some '97 Golf "parts cars" listed recently in the $300 - $500 range, but who knows if those sold? Would a junkyard pay me anything for it? If the engine and tires were replaced, I suspect it would run ok - is there some DIY High School car enthusiast who is dying to take this car off my hands and make it into their ride?

I saw this but my car has no KBB value because it doesn't actually run.

Where does this go?

ben242 — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:49:53 -0800

Can I recycle a dirty tissue or napkin? I have pretty annoying seasonal allergies, so I go through a significant amount of tissues during the day. Tissues and napkins, in fact, are probably the majority of the waste I generate in a given day. Can I put a snot-soaked tissue or a food-stained napkin into the recycle bin? Is there a compelling reason not to?

Have I drunk the same water twice?

crapples — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:09:32 -0800

What’s the probability that I have drunk the same molecule of water more than once in my life? All water on earth goes through the same evaporate and rain cycle over and over again, right? How likely do you think it is that I have drunk the same molecule twice in my life?

On a similar note: How likely is it that I have drunk a molecule that was once ingested by Shakespeare or Paul the Apostle?

recycling a degraded rechargeable battery

randomstriker — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:23:01 -0800

Laptop battery recycling: no nearby location will accept mine so far because it's degraded and puffed up. What are my options? I am in Vancouver BC. I have an Electrovaya Powerpad that has been sitting around for a few years, and over time I guess it has degraded and produced hydrogen gas that has inflated the casing.

I've been to all the nearby shops that recycle rechargeable batteries, and understandably they freak out when they see this. What are my options for responsibly disposing of this?

Trashing Trashy Tunes

Blazecock Pileon — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:16:25 -0800

How can I dispose of hundreds of CDs in an environmentally sound manner? To reduce clutter, I would like to dispose of hundreds of audio and non-sensitive data CDs in an environmentally sound manner. That is, I could throw them in the trash, but this is probably a really bad idea and I'd like to hear about alternatives.

If someone wants to pay me for my music CDs, that would be awesome, definitely. However, I don't think I have the time or energy to devote a few weeks to cataloguing all these discs and their conditions. I don't have time or energy to run a stall at a flea market. If there are services that purchase music CDs (mostly electronic music, some rock and pop) outright, I'm interested.

That aside, do recycling services take CDs in bulk and is there such a facility in or reasonably near the Seattle metropolitan area?

Can I build a hydraulic/etc. press for recyclables on the cheap?

quarantine — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:13:13 -0800

I have gotten into recycling in a serious way, to the point of courting others' contributions and working with an outfit (that pays well enough to pay for the longer trip) some miles away. I would like a press -- hydraulic, Archimedes screw, or something that hasn't occurred to me -- that I could use to compress cans, scrap metal, and various plastics into dense cubes, so that I'd only have to load up the gas-guzzling pickup truck once per redemption trip. The biggest criterion -- after "strong and tough enough for the job", of course -- is price. Ideally I'd like the saved gas to pay for the press over some amount of time. The figure that rattles around my head is $100-$200. Is this the sort of thing one can build with a trip to a pick-apart lot and a welding torch? I'm hoping the answer to be something like "Take foo, which is a strong five-sided metal cube, and bar, which is an efficient hydraulic jack, and you're there" -- but I'm not a mechanical guy by any stretch of the imagination, and don't know how to fill the variables.

Thanks!

Wax Woes

futureisunwritten — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:02:46 -0800

Will a recycling depot accept my waxy bottles? I work at a place that holds candlelit performances and we burn taper candles in wine bottles during the show (always with a staff member holding a fire extinguisher nearby).

As a result, there are dozens of excess bottles in the building that are covered in candle wax. My local recycling depot doesn't seem to want to answer their phone, so I want to know if there's any chance they might take them.

Too many comics!

JoanArkham — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:19:43 -0800

What should I do with old comics and magazines (that may not be school/retirement home friendly)? I have a ton of old indie comics and magazines I want to get rid of, but it seems a shame to toss them out. I know the usual advice is to give them to a school for crafts or a retirement home, but they aren't really appropriate for those venues. (Adult, but not porny enough to leave in the woods.)

I don't really have the time or space to do anything crafty with them myself.

How to repurpose my childhood tree?

sciapod — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:25:02 -0800

A tree that I was sentimentally attached to has died. What long-lasting thing can make out of its wood? When I was in second grade, we planted locust seeds in Dixie cups as a class project. I planted mine just outside by bedroom window, and against all odds, it thrived for fifteen years before dying this past spring.

I am inexplicably broken up about losing this tree, which I'd watched grow from a seed with interest and pride. Because this tree was important to me as a child, I'd like to make something from its wood after we remove the tree from the yard. But what should I make?

I'm unsure how to estimate the amount of wood: though roughly two stories tall, the tree is fairly skinny --- perhaps a foot wide at its base. I have family members who are woodworkers, so skill level and tool availability are not a hurdle. Any suggestions you have would be welcome.

How can I recycle living in multi-unit housing in SoCal?

stewiethegreat — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:51:36 -0800

I just rented a place in Pasadena, California that doesn't have any recycling. Other than piling mounds of recycling in my tiny kitchen before driving it to a recycling center, what are my options? I'm living in a small courtyard with 10 little cottages in it, all owned by the same (nice) guy. When I asked about recycling, during the first week of the lease he shrugged and said, "No recycling, you can take the cans to the grocery store if you want."

Right now I've been separating and bagging recycling, but my kitchen is infinitesimal. I had guests over today and had to move all of the recycling debris into my car. I'm planning to drive the accumulation to the recycling center tomorrow, but would love to have some sort of weekly recycling service that picks up our recycling.

A few data points- we're in Pasadena, California, and I'm pretty sure we're in an incorporated area of the city. Our garbage is in a dumpster and picked up by a company weekly.

I'm willing to pay some modest sum to be able to recycle without driving/extra hassle.

Right now I'm just not sure what to do- I moved from the Bay area and had no idea I should even ask about recycling when I was checking out apartments. Help me, AskMe!

MeFi recycles it beautifully!

HopStopDon'tShop — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:32:39 -0800

Tell me about the best and worst elements of recycling in your town so you can help me set up my recycling (collection) business. In a few months I'm going to be launching a service to collect people's recycling, both from residences and offices. We will be collecting paper, glass, plastics, metals, e-waste and other household waste, except for hazardous materials and compost (for now).

You recycle, someone collects stuff from your house or your business, what do you like the most about the service, and what do you like the least or hate? What seems like a waste of time? What could they do that would make the whole experience better for you?

I'd love to hear anything you have to say but mostly I'm looking for any small details that you find really add value or detract from it from your point of view. (I have the broad strokes of the various systems in place but I'm looking for gems here, stuff that falls between the cracks and usually doesn't get noticed.)

(Please assume for the purposes of this question that I don't need advice on getting permits or how to set up the business or whether recycling is better or worse for the environment etc.)

Help Me Help Them Help the Earth

Leezie — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:54:31 -0800

In honor of Earth Day, help me find a creative way to encourage my my neighbor to recycle. We have curbside recycling once a week and they never recycle anything. Their trash is an amazing collection of plastic water bottles, aluminum cans and lots and lots of paper. I hate to see all of this stuff go into a landfill when we have recycling and they have so much to be recycled. Can I do anything to gently prod them into maybe recycling? Is it even my business?

Re-purposing laptops: I want more than a picture frame.

alexherder — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:30:15 -0800

When it comes to re-purposing old laptops, it seems like the only option people really talk about is to turn it into a picture frame. There's got to be more that an old iBook can do... right? My girlfriend has a 5-year old iBook G4 running OS 10.3 (Panther) which has simply outlived its usefulness as an every day, primary computer. It's got 256mb RAM and a small-ish hard drive but can't handle Office, iTunes, or Firefox (let alone any 2 of those at once) without breaking out the color-wheel-of-death.

I bought her a new MacBook last month which she loves but she is refusing to get rid of her old iBook. I have a slightly newer (about 4-years old) iBook of my own that I am selling on eBay but she is not interested in parting with her "old friend." I don't understand her need to hold onto this old laptop, nor do I seek to dissuade her of the notion. I asked her if we could possibly try to figure out some way to re-purpose it rather than let it sit on a shelf gathering dust and she agreed, now the question is, what to do with it?

I've seen threads about this in a number of places (including here and on lifehacker) but it always seems to come down to file server or picture frame. Our house has a server (Ubuntu 8.04, reasonably speedy) and we have no need for a digital picture frame. I was thinking about using it as a firewall (but it only has one NIC) or as a thin client but I'm not sure where to start. I used to run Ubuntu PPC on my old iBook but kept running into issues due to the x86 vs PPC architecture. The other idea I had was as a "kitchen" computer for recipes and watching TV/streaming radio while cooking, but we already use her new MacBook to do this and that seems to work fine.

In the end, I think we've got enough computers in our house, but she wants to keep this one. So... I turn to you, dear readers. What possible use can we squeeze out of my girlfriend's "old friend"??

Paper or plastic?

nax — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:35:25 -0800

I'm looking for a better garbage bag. I've completely stopped using store bags-- always carry canvas bags with me, for everything from books to groceries to clothing the auto parts store. However, this means that I can longer use the store plastic bags for garbage, forcing me to buy garbage bags.

Or does it? Not using a bag is too nasty, but should I be using large paper bags, on the theory that paper will decompose? Or would I just be killing trees? Plus, where do I find them (the stores only have those mega lawn bags in paper) Do I just go back to using paper bags at the grocery store?

Any survey data on recycling?

k8t — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:50:56 -0800

Surveys on attitudes toward and behaviors of recycling and environmental concern? I'm looking for some survey data on American attitudes toward recycling and/or the environment as well as data on American recycling behavior. It would be FANTASTIC to have some that deals with generational differences, specifically teens and young adults. Any links out there? Newer is better, but I'll take what I can get. TIA!

How should someone in London dispose of a printer?

marmaduke_yaverland — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:12:37 -0800

Trying to get rid of a printer, some battery packs and an old PDA, without simply throwing them in the black bag. How does one recycle electronics ethically in London? Previous answers to this question seem to deal with USA only, and I live in London. The options I have found apply only to businesses and industry junking stuff in bulk. I can't find advice on my council website (Kensington and Chelsea). I know they take little batteries, but not the power pack kind. I would rather not spend money if possible because I am but a poor graduate living with me Mam.

The printer is broken and much hated, the PDA is ancient. I don't know if anyone would take these as donations.

I think the law says you can take electronics back to the shop that sold them to you now? The printer is from 2003, I can't remember where my Mum bought it from and I don't have a receipt. These things are starting to clutter my life and I wish to be rid of them, please help me!

How can I get paid for recycling white office paper? (in Los Angeles)

gigimakka — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:48:23 -0800

An acquaintance mentioned there are paper recyclers who would actually pay by the pound for while printed office paper. An initial google search yielded info on something called Recycle Bank on the East coast, as well as companies that will pick up and shred my documents for a fee (rather than pay *me* for the paper). If anybody knows specifically where to look in Los Angeles, that would be awesome. Otherwise, any suggestions about what key words to use to narrow down my search to appropriate organizations would also be helpful. Why I'm asking: I'm a graduate student on a tight budget, preparing to move overseas. I have over a dozen boxes of journal article and book chapter copies that I've collected from my classes and various research projects over a few years. It hurts to let them go, but I absolutely won't be able to have them shipped. They won't even fit in the one puny blue bin my apartment building provides.

I'd like to recycle them responsibly, and if I can make some money in the process it would really help with the move.

Thanks in advance!

Why do we recycle paper?

jbickers — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:27:08 -0800

Why do we recycle paper? I totally understand the recycling of glass and plastic and all that. But I need to understand why we recycle paper. Doesn't it - quite literally - grow on trees? If we discard it and bury it in the ground, doesn't it break down? Why do we need an industrial process - which seems infinitely more ugly and harmful - to get rid of a naturally occurring substance?

The smarter part of me thinks the answer might be in the ink and the printing process, and the cynical side of me thinks we've been lied to by people who have some kind of interest served by building big recycling facilities, rather than exploring bio-safe inks. But there must be something I'm missing here ... isn't there? Is there some factor I'm not factoring in?

I've watched both Al Gore and Penn & Teller; I've read propaganda on both sides of the issue. Logical explanations (and corresponding links) are earnestly welcomed.

Polypropylene recycling in NYC?

the jam — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:49:39 -0800

Where can I recycle corrugated plastic in New York City? It appears to be the dreaded plastic #5 (polypropylene). I have about 35 sheets.

Recycling DVDs in Santa Monica?

PostIronyIsNotaMyth — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:20:14 -0800

Where can I recycle DVDs, CDs and other electronic media in Santa Monica, CA?

Geting Rid of My (Car's) Spare Tire

ilyanassa — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:13:05 -0800

Where can I get rid of a old donut-type spare tire? The tire shop won't take it because it has a rim. I recently replaced my ancient, deflated donut spare tire with a full-sized spare. But the tire shop wouldn't take the donut because of the attached rim. I called the city's solid waste department and they weren't at all helpful - said I've have to pay someone to take the tire off the rim and then take the rubber and rim to two separate recycling centers. I just want to get rid of the crappy deflated donut tire that's been in my trunk for months! Help!

How stupid would it be to trash the old financial stuff?

paultopia — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 13:39:49 -0800

How dangerous is throwing out old financial records, really? Don't want to pay to shred, and lots of peoples' trash is mixed with mine... I'm a student at a major university with many, many people's trash mixed together into large dumpsters. I'm trying to get rid of several years of old financial records, just full of things like SSNs, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, etc.

Does anyone have a sense as to how dangerous it really is to just toss it all into one of the big bins? Do people really go rooting through them? Is it more or less dangerous to throw it into the paper recycling one?

Alternatively, does anyone have any quick and easy destruction method for about 50 pounds of paper that doesn't require the ability to burn or shred and can happen without paying some professional?

Why recycling plastic bags is so difficult?

bargainhunter — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:05:37 -0800

Many townships don't seem to accept plastic bags for recycling. What is so special about them? What places do accept them for recycling?