Recycling Hell

Wow, what a weekend! I think we could have easily improved on my weekend with some minor business initiative. I decided to clean my computer room from the massive junk on the floor, so I gathered all the stuff that can be thrown away. This involves items that have not been used and will not be used by neither me nor my husband. Ever.

As I sort through the items to rid of I realize that 99% of them can be recycled. You would think this is a rather simple act of putting it all into one box, placing it on the curb on Friday and hoping the Recycling people come by to pick it up. But no, the items I had were not the type that you put out on a curb. Being environmentally aware and trying to do my part in charity, I got online to find out my options.

Item 1: 100+ floppy disks. I’m done copying them into one CD. Now I have a computer without a floppy drive, and I have no use for them. Someone somewhere probably could make good use of them. Keywords search: ‘Floppy disks recycle’ or ‘floppy disks donations’ came up with numerous options but not very viable (I’m not driving to freaking Delaware to recycle some floppies!). After reaching page 7 of the results, I gave up. I ended up spending half an hour looking for a simple answer – take the floppy disks and give them to....
No, dog forbid someone tries to make it easy to get rid of junk. You have to fill up a really long form online to request pickup, detailing how many and what condition. What the #(@. These are freaking useless floppies! Why make it rocket science? I’d rather just chuck them in the trash than go through all this trouble.

Items 2-10: Puzzles, board game, ugly sculpture, jewelry box. Ideally these things are sold for pennies at a yard sale. But I can’t stand the concept of a yard sale (we don’t have those in Israel) and have better things to do with my weekends. So I put them all into one box and drive over to Goodwill. As I get there I observe the workers picking up items from the loading dock and throwing them…to the trash bin! At this point I wondered whether this is the right place to take my stuff if that’s what they end up doing with it. I placed the box on the loading dock, the guy came over to check what’s in it and put my box aside. I have no idea where it ended. I didn’t want to get upset.

Item 3: A set of glass plates, bowls and saucers, and two sets of silverware. I feel kind of strange about giving away silverware and plates that have been used. I mean they’re in good condition and all, but it just feels strange to think that someone else would want used kitchenware. But I decide to hand that decision to Goodwill. I placed this box on the loading dock and alerted the busy employee: “Breakable.” Busy employee goes inside and ignores me. I left the place, but it wouldn’t surprise me if another employee just picked up the box unaware what’s in it only to drop it and break it all.

Item 4: Old brick cellphones. With their boxes, accessories and instruction manuals. Another internet search. 20 minutes later, I determined that my only option is Staples. Nowhere did they mention what they do with these cellphones, which bothered me a bit because I really wanted these to go to the battered women shelter. So I arrived at Staples with my bagful of cellphones (yeah, we’ve had a lot since 1993). The young kid at the Customer Service was in a bit of a shock. I don’t think he’s ever seen cellphones from the 90’s. So he called his manager. His manager comes over, picks up the bag and leaves. I’m standing there sort of stunned, thinking out loud, “You’re welcome!” But I find it difficult to part from my very sentimental belongings without another word, so I ask, “Do I get any receipt?” I mean, com’n I get receipts from any other place for charity, and these cellphones cost me a fortune at the time. But no, Staples Manager doesn’t give me a receipt and explains that Staples just collects them and ships them off to their central office which then gives it to the battered women groups. Sigh of relief. But I’m still upset about not getting a receipt for this $400+ donation.

Item 5: Well, thankfully, the food store is right next door to Staples and dropping off the one pound of plastic bags wasn’t too much of an effort. Nothing in return. No incentive. Which is fine, after all it’s not like I paid money for these plastic bags to begin with.

Item 6: Used ink cartridges. So with this one I’m a bit of a veteran. Office Depot gives me a free ream of Office Depot’s Premium Recycled White Copy Paper for each used ink cartridge I bring in for recycling. But since I was already at Staples I checked out the options. So Staples has a huge sign on their storefront claiming “recycle your ink cartridges here!” Ok, great, but what’s the incentive? None? Oh, fine, I’ll get in my car and drive to Office Depot to recycle my ink cartridges. At least I get something in return! I got to Office Depot (keep in mind, an Office Depot is typically located more than 5 miles from a Staples. Maybe there’s a zoning law about it?), and went over to the ink cartridge counter, where a big sign announces “$2.50 off any ink cartridge if you bring in an ink cartridge for recycling.” So I looked at my bag, looked at the young kid behind the register and said, “Okay, does this mean you no longer give the ream of paper in return for a used cartridge?” He immediately answers, “No, we stopped that program. We now do the $2.50 off a new one.” So I look confused and say, ”So if I have five of them, do you multiply $2.50 by the number of cartridges?” What do you think he answered?
“No, you can only get one discount per day.” Meanwhile, I’m watching him throw away two used cartridges that belonged to another man who’s trying to pick up his new cartridge. I didn’t like his answer and was considering filing a class action law suit, when he says, “Lemme call the manager.” Yup, this is “Call the Manager” day. Manager comes by and tells him to give me a box of paper for five cartridges and I cannot use more than 5 at a time (which is fine by me, because I left the other five at home). Yes! One battle won today. Meanwhile he’s ringing up the other man’s purchase, when his wife realizes what just happened and asks why they’re not getting the $5 off for the two ink cartridges. So I explained the deal to her, and now she’s upset. So her husband asks for the one used cartridge back.
I’d like to ask the general manager of Office Depot – does it make good business sense to harass people like this for trying to do the right thing? If you’re already giving an incentive for recycling, then try not to make us angry in the process or you’re going to lose our business altogether.

Item 7: Oh what the heck, I’m already driving around town with my environmental show-on-the-road, might as well hit the shopping mall to drop off my two pairs of used glasses. So I enter Lens Crafters and ask if I can drop off my used glasses. Now, here’s a pleasant surprise. She takes the glasses, thanks me and says, “Wait, let me give you this receipt for tax purposes.” So she gave me a receipt even showing the value of the glasses ($200). Of course, now I’m getting even more bitter about not getting a receipt from Staples for the cellphones. I hope I remember to claim them on my taxes this year.

Item 8: Used and leaking batteries. Another half hour online and I find out that Staples will only take the rechargeable batteries. Okay, that must be a really popular program. No other options were available. I still have a full drawer of used batteries. A leaking sculpture comes to mind.

Did anyone notice what’s wrong with this picture? In my effort to save the environment, recycle and do the right thing – I spent half a tank of gas driving around town! Can you not just put it all in one building? One recycling center for all items. I’ll bring Mybrid with a full trunk filled with everything. I’ll distribute it to the correct boxes. I’ll spend the five minutes doing it. Done. Instead, I wasted a Saturday, and I pretty much feel discouraged from ever going through this effort again. All I can say now is that doing the right thing turned out all wrong, and now I have a freaking leg cramp from all this clean-up work.