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You say that NY state has a drug recycling program but the link you provide lists a lot of legislation that doesn't seem to have anything to do with recycling. I'd love to know about drug recycling in my state; is there a better link to this supposed program?

According to the NYC Department of Sanitation website, prescription drugs should be disposed of in the trash. See http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/html/at_home/medical.shtml#medication

Best Buy offers recycling kiosks at a number of their stores.
You can recycle CDs, batteries, print cartridges and a number of other items, all free of charge.



http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?type=category&id=pcmcat149900050025

great list!
we have been wondering about all the jewel cases (among several other things mentioned here).

I'm really intrigued at the fact that medicine can be recycled. I want to see a "How It's Made" on how it's done.

Medicines are not recycled they are incinerated. State and county organizations use the word 'recycle' to greenwash the true process.

If your county has a household hazardous waste drop off location or an annual HHW round up you can drop your pharmaceuticals off there.

I work for an environmental services company. We get rid of all the bad nasties, toxic, radioactive, biohazard that people and corporations produce to make the earth a cleaner place.

How much energy is going to be used running round delivering these for recycling?

That's great, but who is really going to run around or mail stuff to all these places even monthly? That's a lot of time and money. In Houston, it's difficult to even find a place to recycle metal & plastic containers. There is one bin in my suburb and all the people I work with can't find one anywhere in Houston. This has to be the least green city in the country!

incincerating is still MUCH better than having diluted medications in our water. My (NY) pharmacist also said to flush it. I don't think they're informed.

(although, I must be frank, the primary source of medications in our water is from urine... everyone gets a low dose of a birth control pill with every glass of unfiltered water!)

Recycling is not all it's cracked up to be. More focus needs to be placed on REDUCING and RE-USING.

FanTAStic! Moving from Seattle to Milwaukee (where only #1 & 2 plastic is recycled... UGH), this is a great resource. I itch every time I have to throw something in the trash.

HeyNowTex, for a city the size of Houston there is a lack of recycling centers convenient to the majority of the population. The web site below does have a list of the sites.

http://www.greenhoustontx.gov/materials.html

You can also check out this web site for 1-day household hazardous waste events.

http://www.cleanwaterways.org/hhw/

My company takes batteries and CFL's for recycling in our corporate offices - we have drop bins in the coffee/supply rooms.

I recently learned that there are so many things around us that can be recycled - stuff I never thought of. It was pretty eye-opening - I was glad that some companies out there actually helping the recycling and reuse effort in real and helpful ways.

I posted about this not too ago:

http://donkeehouse.com/?p=329

Every bit helps!

off topic, but can anyone tell me where those trash cans are from? they're super cute

Great list!!! Thanks for it.

However, I do have one issue: I can't believe a site for DIYers didn't mention building materials! Very few people are away that they can recycle entire buildings.

I work at the Community Forklift, DC's thrift store for buildng materials. Instead of donating toys and clothes to our thrift store, you can get a tax deduction for donating your unwanted doors, cabinets, lumber, sinks, tools, etc. Reusable items can then be sold very cheaply so low-income folks, homeowners, local nonprofits, and small businesses can afford repairs. When we end up with items that do not sell, we try to develop systems for recycling them - for example, we take broken appliances to the metal scrapper, and we're researchng a project where broken porcelain can be used to rebuild oyster beds in the Chesapeake Bay. In addition, we have a free aisle for folks who want to use unwanted stuff for new purposes (like one artist who weaves baskets out of brightly-colored cables and wires).

We also work closesly with deconstruction companies, who recycle entire homes and buildings. When there is an unwanted structure, instead of bulldozing and trashing it, the property owner can hire these green workers to take the building apart carefully. They can preserve up to 80% for recycling and reuse! It can cost about the same as bulldozing, because you pay much less in landfill tipping fees, and you are getting the tax deduction for donating all those materials. Basically, you're paying people to work rather than paying to throw stuff away.

There are several hundred home improvement thrift stores and deconstruction businesses around the country, with more popping up every month. Check out the state-by-state lists at the Building Materials Reuse Association (http://bmra.org/listings) and The Loading Dock (http://www.loadingdock.org/about/NationalReuse/index.html). You should also check with your local chapter of Habitat for Humanity, as many of them run ReStores.

Thanks,
Ruthie
www.CommunityForklift.com

I use http://earth911.com/ to find out how to recycle a lot of things. It's really useful and gives you centers in your area that will recycle pretty much anything you're trying to get rid of. It feels good knowing your stuff isn't going to be rotting in a landfill until the end of time.

Recycle all of your CFLs in the drop bin at HOME DEPOT