~DEP offers eco-friendly tips for reducing, reusing and recycling non-traditional items at home and in the office~

As the winter season comes to an end and Floridians begin to think about spring cleaning, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, or DEP, encourages residents to apply the 3 R’s – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle –and discover ways to recycle items that may not normally be considered recycle-friendly.

“We all understand the importance of recycling,” said Mary Jean Yon, Director of DEP’s Division of Waste Management. “Reducing waste can also help keep our landfills from filling up. Most people think of recycling newspapers, cans and bottles, but your closets, desks and drawers are filled with items that can also be recycled.”

Tips and resources for practicing the 3 R’s while de-cluttering your home or office:

Athletic shoes - Local running clubs often collect athletic shoes for charitable causes such as homeless shelters and women’s refuge houses. One World Running club will send still-wearable shoes to athletes in need in locations such as Africa, Latin America and Haiti (http://www.oneworldrunning.com). Soles4Souls collects gently worn shoes of all kinds and donates them to those in need (www.soles4souls.org). Nike's Reuse-a-Shoe program turns old shoes into playground and athletic flooring (http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/).

- Sports equipment -- Resell or trade used sports equipment. Look up “used sporting equipment” in the yellow pages or online.

- Dry cleaning hangers and plastic bags - - Some dry cleaners will accept wire hangers and reuse them. They may also recycle plastic bags or you may be able to put them in your regular recycling bin. To be even more eco-friendly, you can also research (Google: environmentally friendly dry cleaners) whether dry cleaners in your area use environmentally friendly solvents that are biodegradable in water and in soil. Another option is to avoid buying clothes labeled “dry clean only”.

- Techno-trash - - As you upgrade your technology, many outdated items can be reprocessed, such as VHS tapes, game cartridges, digital cameras, MP3 players, cords, cables, cassette tapes, VCRs and computer monitors. GreenDisk will take these items and reprocess them in an eco-friendly way. Call 1-800-305-DISK or visit www.greendisk.com to learn how you can pay a small amount for shipping to relieve your conscience and your clutter. In addition, www.flipswap.com can provide you with a number of local businesses that recycle used cell phones.

- Exercise videos - -Video Fitness offers a video exchange service (www.videofitness.com).

- Mattresses -- Although in most places you cannot recycle mattresses and most charities will not take them, you may be able to find a good home for a mattress in usable condition through the Freecycle Network. This Internet service helps people offer up items that other people will happily take (www.freecycle.org). Also, you can offer things for free to people in your area on an online bulletin board.

- Toothbrushes and Razors - -Buy a recycled plastic toothbrush or razor from Preserve and the company will take it back to be recycled again into plastic lumber. Preserve toothbrushes and razors are made from used Stonyfield Farm Yogurt Cups (www.preserveproducts.com).

- Clothes - - Wearable clothes can be donated to charity organizations or local shelters. Women's business clothing can be donated to Dress for Success, which offers them to disadvantaged women looking for employment (www.dressforsuccess.org). Un-wearable clothes may be donated to pet shelters for bedding.

- Eyeglasses - - Local Lions Clubs recycle glasses and provide usable eyeglasses to children and adults throughout the world (www.lionsclub.org). Local eye care chains may also collect them, such as LensCrafters, Target Optical, or other participating stores and doctors’ offices, which will send them to www.givethegiftofsight.org. Metal frames can be recycled in scrap-metal recycling bins.

- Ink/toner cartridges -- Many office product suppliers will take back empty ink/toner cartridges, recycle them for you, and allow store credit towards future purchases. Recycleplace.com will pay up to $1 for returned ink/toner cartridges (www.recycleplace.com).

- Film Canisters –- Check with your local recycling center to find out if it takes gray film-container lids (No. 4) and black bases (No. 2). If not, many photo labs will accept them.

- Food Processors -- Some communities accept small household appliances for recycling- if not in curbside collection, then in drop-off locations. Since most appliances are about 75 percent steel according to the Steel Recycling Institute, your appliance will probably qualify unless you know it is mostly plastic.

- Carpeting -- Some carpet manufacturers take part in recycling programs. Google search “What can I do with my old carpet?” to learn more about carpet-reclamation or check with your carpet’s manufacturer.

- Crayons -- The National Crayon Recycle Program (www.crazycrayons.com) melts down crayons and reforms them into new ones.

- Hearing Aids –- The Starkey Hearing Foundation (www.sotheoworldmayhear.org) recycles used hearing aids of any make or model and no matter how old. Lions Clubs also accept hearing aids for reuse (www.lionsclub.org).

To increase recycling throughout Florida, last summer Governor Charlie Crist signed into law the Energy, Climate Change, and Economic Security Act of 2008 which establishes a new statewide recycling goal of 75 percent to be achieved by 2020.

Within the law DEP is directed to develop a program to achieve this goal and submit it to the Florida Legislature for consideration by January 1, 2010.

For more information on the new statewide recycling goal of 75 percent, and
to share your comments on ways to achieve this goal and view comments from others on our web-based forum, click here.

Click here to find out more about your local county recycling coordinator and to learn where to recycle in your community.