Recycle Glass At Target

Update from March 9, 2016: As of March 1st you can no longer recycle glass at Targets stores in Montana.  This disappoints me as I quite like seeing corporations helping to take responsibility for the disposable packaging they sell and profit from.  I got a nice email back in response to my email to them.  I think everyone who cares should call or email them, too.  The more the merrier.  Contact them here

I have been telling everyone this since I confirmed it.  You can recycle glass at Target.  For FREE!

Now, for many people recycling glass is probably now news.  Glass is one of the best things to recycle because you can actually make old bottles into new bottles.  Most other media results in a form of down-cycling, which still better than the landfill, isn't ideal.  You cannot make a new soda bottle out of an old one.   It is made into something else that can handle a slightly degraded plastic.   Glass recycling should be everywhere, but there are only two ways to recycle glass in Yellowstone County.  #1 Pay for curbside recycling (w/ glass) through Earth First Aid or #2 Take it to Target. 

Matt and I are very much the why-pay-for-it-if-I-can-do-it-myself type folks so we are not part of the cubside recycling program here.  We figure for $138 (w/o glass) -$168 (w/ glass) each year we will just save it in the basement and haul it off ourselves.  But, we didn't really have a solution for glass.  I saved it for when I visited places that did have glass recycling, the closest being nearly two hours away.  Also, my boss would let me slip some in with his curbside recycling because as a single man he didn't ever fill up his container all the way.   However, he plans to drop the glass portion come December so that option will be out soon enough.

Really though the solution is for Matt to learn to brew his own beer as probably 90% of the glass that ends up at our house is from beer.   But, until then I at least found a place to take them here in town.

Target also accepts a number of other recyclable items including plastic bottles, grocery bags, and some small electronics, like cellphones and MP3 players. 

Speaking of electronics:  Did you know you can recycle all sorts of e-waste at Best Buy?  They take cords, keyboards, ink cartridges, CDs, DVDs, DVD/CD cases, etc. for free.  They also take in large electronics such as TVs, but there is a charge for that. 

Heck, while I'm at it, for those in Billings I will also mention Yellowstone E-Waste Solutions which offers e-waste recyling for a just about every possible electronic device.  They accept cell phones, MP3 players, ink cartridges, cords & cables, and internal computer parts for free. They charge $ .30/pound for other larger electronics.  They also partner up with the City of Billings to offer discount days where the City picks up most of the tab as a way to encourage people to start recycling e-waste.  Electronics contain many valuable metals that should be reused as well as potentially harmful components that should NOT be disposed of in the trash.

Well...I guess I got a little sidetracked.  I really only meant to post about glass.

In any case, I don't do much shopping at either Target or Best Buy, but I am so glad to see they're promoting recycling.  I am also very happy that there are several options open to my community for the responsible disposal of e-waste.

Comments

  1. That's all good information. The City of Huntsville took glass for recycling for years. It just came to light that they did NOT take it to Atlanta as they said. They just burned it onsite. Sad.To attone for this years' long lie, they took a load to Atlanta, costing them $400 in gas, driver pay, and lost time elsewhere. That is not enough atonement to suit me.

    The recycled electronics are sent to Asia and children/adults take out the dangerous parts to recycle, using no precautions against contamination.

    How long will it be before we are so poor as a country that some children will work with contaminated materials? Okay, country won't be poor.

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  2. Yes, shipping oversees is a growing problem. Yellowstone E-Waste Solutions uses only domestic recyclers according to their website.

    In my mind it is better to be poorly recycled than to just be thrown in the landfill. If it ends up in the landfill it still creates a toxic environment for those nearby. Still, it is not right to export OUR problem. Plus, couldn't we create jobs (and find usable resources) by doing it ourselves?

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  3. I agree--no landfill.

    Of course we could do it ourselves, but outsourcing is cheaper and we don't have to face OSHA constraints for workers. Sad for other countries.

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  4. Here in Choteau we have several recycling bins in two locations. We can take cardboard, glass, newspaper and other paper. My daughter told me that the landfill in Augusta takes plastics #1 and #2. I'm not certain where they go from there. I will try to find out. Everytime she goes that direction, I send a couple bags of plastic recycling with her. We have been recycling our kitchen waste through cold composting that uses micro organisms. It actually ferments the waste. Pretty fascinating.
    How frustrating to read about the way our electronics are dealt with. I'm with you. There has to be a better way........Denise

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  5. That is so interesting! You can recycle glass but not plastic and I can recycle plastic, but not glass. It would be so much simpler if it was more similar across the board. Oh well, I keep reminding myself that slow-and-steady-wins-the-race. There are more and more recycling options in Montana each year I think. Progress can be painfully (and stupidly) slow, but as long as we are moving in the right direction.....

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