Green my world: laser printer cartridges
My recent foray into downloading/printing a bunch of reports to read for my applied project also exhausted whatever powder was left in my laser cartridge and today, I needed to get myself a new one. Which led me to wonder how I was going to get rid of the old one...
If you want to recycle electronics and personal computers, there are many options available. Printer cartridges? Not so much. Unless you live in the UK where they have ActionAid Recycling, a charity that picks up your old cartridges, cell phones and PDAs, recycles them and gives the money it makes from the recycling to various partner charities.
I think I found the reason why cartridge recycling is not so big in Canada and the US: you can actually send your old cartridge back to the manufacturer and they will take care of it, free of charge. At least, that's what I found at Hewlett-Packard, but I'm sure other vendors have similar programs. The shipping label is included in the box when you buy a new cartridge and you send the old one, postage paid, in the box of the new one you just purchased. How easy is that? I'll tell you if it actually works (i.e., if the lady at Canada Post doesn't send me back with my curious parcel). BTW, this program also works with their ink cartridges.
A tip for the savvy shoppers. If you are buying something from Future Shop, it's worth it to research the item online before going to the store. If checked both Future Shop and Staples' web sites to compare prices and noticed that Future Shop had a manufacturer instant rebate of $17 on the HP cartridge I needed. I didn't want to buy online, I have a store only a short walk away. I made my way to the store, found the cartridge, but no mention of a rebate. So I asked the lady at the cash register, she asked her supervisor, he checked the web site and came back nodding. Yes, take $17 off her purchase. Woohoo! Note that if I hadn't checked online, I would have no idea the store was offering this "manufacturer instant rebate"... Sneaky.
If you want to recycle electronics and personal computers, there are many options available. Printer cartridges? Not so much. Unless you live in the UK where they have ActionAid Recycling, a charity that picks up your old cartridges, cell phones and PDAs, recycles them and gives the money it makes from the recycling to various partner charities.
I think I found the reason why cartridge recycling is not so big in Canada and the US: you can actually send your old cartridge back to the manufacturer and they will take care of it, free of charge. At least, that's what I found at Hewlett-Packard, but I'm sure other vendors have similar programs. The shipping label is included in the box when you buy a new cartridge and you send the old one, postage paid, in the box of the new one you just purchased. How easy is that? I'll tell you if it actually works (i.e., if the lady at Canada Post doesn't send me back with my curious parcel). BTW, this program also works with their ink cartridges.
A tip for the savvy shoppers. If you are buying something from Future Shop, it's worth it to research the item online before going to the store. If checked both Future Shop and Staples' web sites to compare prices and noticed that Future Shop had a manufacturer instant rebate of $17 on the HP cartridge I needed. I didn't want to buy online, I have a store only a short walk away. I made my way to the store, found the cartridge, but no mention of a rebate. So I asked the lady at the cash register, she asked her supervisor, he checked the web site and came back nodding. Yes, take $17 off her purchase. Woohoo! Note that if I hadn't checked online, I would have no idea the store was offering this "manufacturer instant rebate"... Sneaky.
Labels: electronics, green my world
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