Each year, American discard millions of unused cellphones, printer cartridges, and other electronics. Now there are ways to keep these items out of the landfills and to raise money for your local school or organization. There are many different programs that allow non-profits to collect these castoffs and turn them in for money. I'll outline a couple of them below.
EcoPhones
I'm the fundraising co-chair of my daughter's preschool. I have to admit - I hate fundraising, but I was hoping to find some way to tie this position in with some kind of environmental fundraiser. I was so happy when I found EcoPhones while searching on the web one night! EcoPhones (http://www.ecophones.com/) is a company that allows organizations to send in not only ink jet cartridges and cellphones, but digital cameras, digital picture frames, laptops, DVDs, and other electronics in exchange for some much needed cash. And they accept items even if they are not working (albeit for a reduced price - but it still gets the item recycled and out of the landfill!). They even pay the shipping costs, so all the organization has to get are boxes to ship the items in and newspaper to cushion the items during shipment. For new items, EcoPhones actually refurbishes and resells them; older items are broken apart and recycled. We are kicking off our first collection drive this coming week; I'm excited to see what we collect! I have a cell phone and a bunch of ink jet cartridges to donate myself!
Staples
Staples offers a program called Recycle for Education, which offers $3 per qualifying printer cartridge to registered preschool and school programs. To find out more details, visit http://www.staplesrecyclefored.com/.
Others
Here's a list of a few other programs that you may want to consider:
*Cartridges for Kids (http://www.cartridgesforkids.com/) - which also collects various unwanted electronics besides printer cartridges.
*Cartridge Fundraising (http://www.cartridgefundraising.com/)
*Funding Factory (http://www.etcep.com/) - which accepts cellphones & printer cartridges
What better way to raise money for your school or club than by keeping unused electronics and printer cartridges out of our landfills!
Take Care, Kara
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