Why do I use Terracycle for recycling some items? To try and make a difference.
Being the end of an interesting year, and coming up on what appears to be another interesting year, I’m going to tell you about Terracycle. They recycle practically everything, and as you’ve come to notice, trash is big business. I’d even say that we need trash men and people to handle trash more than we need brain surgeons or rocket scientists, because we’re all drowning in our own trash and waste. Recycling in my area is non-existent, but I do what I can.
I can’t change the world. I can’t change our government, but I can do this small thing with the hope it makes some difference in the world.
I currently have Terracycle boxes for bottle caps, candy and snack wrappers, pet food containers and packaging, and shipping waste. I need to get another container for alkaline batteries. Just waiting for another good sale.
Right now, I’m returning a filled Small: 11"x11"x20” Terracycle Zero Waste Box for Candy and Snack Wrappers. I bought it for $85.50. It took 13 months to fill it.
(11/19/2023 – 12/29/2024. I write the dates on the boxes.)
That works out to $6.576 per month. The last one I just bought was $73.50. I’ll start filling that one. If it takes 13 months to fill, that’ll be $5.65 a month.
I could cram more stuff in there over the next few weeks, but I figured I’d send it in.
Currently, the price for that particular box, size small, is $105 ÷ 13 = $8.076 per month. If it takes me longer to fill it, that means the cost is even less per month.
Yes, the boxes do seem to be quite expensive, even when you break it down to how much it might cost per month.Why are they so expensive? They are shipped to you, and when you fill them, you ship them back for free. It’s not really free, because you paid for it, but there is no additional charge. Once the box is received, they sort through them, and people have to be paid for their work. For now.
Meanwhile, I do try to use less plastic. It’s not easy. I recycle as much as I can of other items, and haul them 30 miles to the nearest recycling center. Not that I actually trust the company running the place, but it’s all we’ve got here. I take metal and aluminum cans 10 miles in the other direction to recycle those. It’s the best I can do for now.
Give Terracycle a look. They have many free programs as well as their Zero Waste boxes. They also make stuff from the plastic they recycle.
