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Wissahickon Growing Greener

Let's Promote and Educate RESIDENTS about a Sustainable Future for OUR Area 

Recycle Just about Anything.  Also check the MonCo Recycle A-Z page.  Have questions about reuse and recycling options in Montgomery County, PA? Call the Recycling Hotline - 610-278-3618!

trash hauler comparisons

  • Aerosol Cans
    • recycle EMPTY cans with your regular pickup.  These are made from valuable steel.
  • Alarm Clocks
  • Art Materials
  • Audio and videotapes, CD's, DVD's, Records:
    • try donating to nursing homes, libraries or thrift shops.
    • http://www.swaptree.com/ - swap books, CDs, DVDs and video games
    • Best Buy collects CDs and DVDs for recycling at in-store kiosks. 
    • The GreenDisk mail-in program recycles media into new CDs and disks. GreenDisk also collects cases for recycling, so you won’t be left with a bunch of plastic lying around.  They take all kinds of electronic media (including 8 tracks!)
  • Batteries:
    • Best Buy, Plymouth Meeting Whole Foods.  Best Buy has a recycling kiosks just inside the door for CDs, DVDs and gift cards.  Once batteries are collected, any acids are drained for reuse, metals are reprocessed for recycling into new products and plastic casings are melted down and recycled into new plastics.
  • Blue Jeans: http://www.cottonfrombluetogreen.org/Mail-in-Program/
  • Brita Water Filters:
    • Brita filters can be recycled at Weaver's Way, along with number 5 plastics.   You can take these to the Whole Foods as well.
  • Boomboxes or stereos
  • Books:
    • donate to local library
    • trade on PaperBackSwap
    • get money back from a local used book store
  • Bottle Caps:
    • Aveda has created a recycling program for plastic bottle caps where the material is recycled into new caps and containers aveda.com/aboutaveda.  You can even save detergent shampoo and Rx caps.
  • Bras
    • Bosom Buddy Recycling will take your old bras and give them to deserving women around the country including women’s shelters, transitional housing, and breast cancer-survivor support groups.
    • Breast Oasis collects old bras and donates them to shelters for homeless and battered women through drop-off boxes and a mail-in service.
  • Building Materials (donate AND shop for items)
  • Carpet
    • The FOAM CENTER in Bristol, PA takes carpet from homeowners for FREE. The don't take polyester carpet, though. Call: 610-247-0596. Open Monday-Friday, 7am-4pm. 2014 Ford Rd; Bristol, PA 19007
    • try: http://www.carpetrecovery.org/waste.cfm
    • SPCA:  Crate size pieces to use as cushion in a cold metal crate.  
  • Cat/Dog Stuff
      • Kitty Cottage, the only cageless cat shelter in the region accepts:
        scratching posts, cat litter, cat food, grooming products, cat treats &
        paper towels, cleaning products, towels, afghans
        Dropoff at 317 W Johnson in East Norriton. 
      • SPCA: blankets, pillows, mattress pads, carpet scraps, towels, linens.  Anything used that would end up in the landfill.  They don't have to be in perfect condition.  Purpose would be to use as cushion in a cold metal crate.  Washed would be a nice added gesture to the donation request
      • http://www.peaceforpuppies.org/
  • CFL bulbs
  • Clothes/Household Items:
  • Clothes Hangers (metal ones)
    • take back to a dry cleaner
  • Computers:
    • There is a list of computer recycling outlets on the Whitpain Township site.  
    • If you’re looking to hand off your used computer quickly and easily, your local Best Buy store is a good place to start. Best Buy’s recycling service will accept laptop and desktop computers in most stores. You can choose to remove the hard drive yourself or let the Geek Squad do it for $9.99.
    • Trade in with Gazelle
    • Newer computer products can find a home at TechSoup, a nonprofit that helps provide technology to schools and nonprofits. 
    • EPA lists its “Plug-In to eCycling Partners”— companies with their own trade-in programs
    • The ReConnect program: Goodwill Stores in our area (Lansdale, Royersford, Phoenixville, Berwyn, Warminster) now accept and recycle all brands of computer equipment for free!   They also accept just about anything that can be connected to a computer.
    • Apple contracts with WeRecycle! to responsibly recycle computers and displays from any manufacturer. Just call 877-712-2405 to receive a free prepaid shipping label. Then pack up your equipment using your own box and send it off. For more information about WeRecycle!, visit www.werecycle.com.
    • Apple will give you credit for an iPhone, iPad, or computer — Mac or PC — if it has value.  Check http://www.apple.com/recycling/gift-card/ for info.
  • Cookware:
    • Recycle your cookware with Calphalon!  If you buy any Calphalon 8-piece, 10-piece or 15-piece cookware,you can send them your OLD cookware (any brand or condition is acceptable) to be recycled.  
  • Corks:
    • Korks 4 Kids welcomes you to send us your wine cork collection.  Their page currently says they are no longer accepting corks!  Uh oh.  
    • ReCORK America has partnered up with national retailers to establish wine cork collection locations nationwide.
    • Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting has a spot near their bar/beer area for corks.
    • Send them to Yemm & Hart Green Materials. They’ve started an experimental wine cork-recycling program that processes the old bottle stoppers into environmentally friendly cork floor and wall tiles.
    • Recycled wine corks can be made into flooring tiles, building insulation, footwear, automotive gaskets, bulletin boards, packaging materials, soil conditioner and sports equipment.
  • Crayons:
  • Dresses:
  • Drink Boxes/Milk Cartons:
    • The Recycling Services center in Pottstown takes aseptic packaging.   Location: 365 Elm Street, Pottstown, 610-323-8545, and the facility is open for public collection on Tuesdays and Saturdays (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.). They charge an $8/car gate fee, so consider loading up with your neighbors’ No. 3 through 7s, too, before you head out there.
    • Many curbside recycling programs now take these.  Check with your trash hauler.
  • Electronics
    • Some places, like Radio Shack, have trade-in programs where you can receive store credit for your old gadgets. You can also turn your old electronics into cash thanks to a growing number of websites designed to help you easily sell them.
    • Trade in with Gazelle
    • GreenDisk handles all your technotrash disposal
    • Best Buy: Consumers can now drop off items with screens up to 32 inches for tube televisions and 60 inches for flat-panel televisions, free of charge. In addition to televisions, the in-store recycling program includes computer monitors, DVD players, audio and video cables, cell phones and other electronics.
  • Egg cartons:
    • try a farmer's market- they can be reused.
  • Eyeglasses:
    • 1. The Lions Club collects eyeglasses and distributes them around the world. One of their 7 recycling center in the US is in Trenton
      2. Any Lenscrafters store
      3. Any Goodwill store
  • Fans
  • Garden Produce: http://ampleharvest.org/
  • Greeting Cards
    • Send your used cards (Christmas, birthday, any type!) to the children at St. Jude’s Ranch. The kids there will cut the fronts off of the old cards and affix new backs, creating new cards! The cards can be purchased on their website.  They can not accept Hallmark, Disney or American Greeting cards.
  • Hair:
    • Yep, human hair! Not only can human hair be composted, but it can actually be recycled into dense mats for soaking up oil. Public charity, Matter of Trust, began the Hair For Oil Spills Program in 2000 after Phil McCrory, a hair stylist from Alabama, watched news coverage of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and noticed the oil saturated fur on the Alaskan otters.
  • Holiday lights
  • Furniture 
    •  Impact Thrift Stores, and they'll even come pick it up.
    • Throwplace.com, "the Internet’s landfill alternative," will help you match your used furniture (and just about any other item) with a new home 
    • One House At A Time is a non-profit that helps furnish homes for those who need
      assistance.  411 Susquehanna Road, Ambler, PA 19002: office@ohaat.org or (215) 646-7812, please ask for Debi.
  • Kitchen Scraps: 
  • Magazines:
    • If a retirement home ot library can't take them, drop them off in a Paper retriever Bin behind your local school or church.
  • Mattresses 
    • Removal Solutions on Lucon Road in Schwenksville -- just beyond Skippack, off of Route 73 (1-88-THROWOUT).  There is a fee of $12 per double mattress or box spring (more for larger pieces).  If they are in good condition (no rips, tears or stains), they are sanitaized and donated to Hope Community Church in King of Prussia.   Other times they are broken down... the wood in the box springs becomes pelletized fuel for electric power generation, the metal springs come out and are recycled as scrap metal.
    • They will recycle anything of any size.  They also will pick up and charge according to the space your junk takes up in their truck.
  • Medicine:
    • Rann Pharmacy 377 Main St. Harleysville, PA 19438. Bring in your old, expired, no longer needed prescriptions in their original bottles or containers, and dispose of them in the Drug Disposal Kiosk located in front of the pharmacy counter. They will dispose of them for you, in an environmentally friendly way.
    • Rite Aid pharmacies and Sharps Compliance Corp. have created a new nationwide mail-back program for unused, outdated or unwanted prescription and over-the-counter drugs.  Consumers can purchase special mailing envelopes for $3.99 at U.S. Rite Aid locations in every state except for Maine, where a separate program is in place. The purchase price includes cost of mailing the envelope through the U.S. Postal Service.
  • Paint:
    • Check to see if a local group needs it.  The restore will take full cans.  If the can is clean and empty, recycle it.
    • Take any oil-based paints to a household hazardous waste collection site.
  • Paper: drop it off in a Paper Retriever Bin behind your local school or church.
  • Plastics:
    • The Recycling Services center in Pottstown takes plastics 1-7.   Location: 365 Elm Street, Pottstown, 610-323-8545, and the facility is open for public collection on Tuesdays and Saturdays (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.). They charge an $8/car gate fee, so consider loading up with your neighbors’ No. 3 through 7s, too, before you head out there.
    • #5 plastic: Weaver’s Way Co-op (weaversway.coop) collects it—including Brita filters—as part of the “Gimme 5” campaign. Plastics must be clean, dry and clearly stamped with the number 5. Collections take place on the third Saturday of each month at the Co-op’s garage (524 Carpenter Lane), and all the plastics are then shipped to the Gimme 5 processing facility in New York State.
  • Pedometers and Heart Monitors
  • Pillows
  • Printer Cartridges:
    • Dropoff at your nearest Staples store where they have drop-boxes and will recycle them.
  • Radios and CD players:
  • Rechargable batteries:
    • Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corp has locations across the nation. Go to Call2Recycle.org, or call 1-877-2-RECYCLE to find a drop-off site near you.
  • Scrap Metal
  • Sheets/towels:
    • Dropoff at your local SPCA or animal shelter. They use these as bedding for animals.
    • Planet Aid (planetaid.org) accepts all kind of textiles.  Reusable items are picked through and the rest are baled and sold on the international rag market.  Look for their yellow boxes around town.
    • http://www.peaceforpuppies.org/
  • Shoes:
Nike Reuse-A-Shoe - drop off any brand of ratty athletic shoes, and the company'll grind 'em up into surfaces for playgrounds, tennis courts, and tracks.  There is a Nike Store at the Limerick outlets.
Soles4Souls - donate used-but-useable pairs to people in developing countries by dropping your shoes off at a nearby drop spot or shipping
One World Running - donate near-new athletic shoes to cash-poor sports players.
Recycle your old Crocs at Boscov's!  Boscov's has partnered with SolesUnited to become an Authorized Collection Partner. Drop off your worn out Crocs in the Shoe Department. Feel good knowing that you are helping to provide new Crocs shoes to those in need around the world. 
Planet Aid (planetaid.org) accepts shoes.  Look for thier yellow boxes around town.
    • The UPS store will take back packing material, like peanuts and the plastic things filled with air for cushion.
    • Styrofoam that used to cover electronics?  Try Raybob Packaging, Inc., in Tullytown 215-943-4799
    • The Recycling Services center in Pottstown takes styrofoam and so much more. Location: 365 Elm Street, Pottstown, 610-323-8545, and the facility is open for public collection on Tuesdays and Saturdays (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.). They charge an $8/car gate fee, so consider loading up with your neighbors’ No. 3 through 7s, too, before you head out there.
    • EPS recyclers. Polystyrene packing peanuts and molded foam cushioning can either be dropped off at a local location if you have one or sent in the mail.  Contact a WGG member for local drop off information on the first of the month (Feb, April, June, Aug, Oct  2011): donna.birdsell@verizon.net
Animal Care and Control Team(ACCT)
111 W Hunting Park Ave
Philadelphia, Pa 19140
Attn: Tj Cunningham
  • Televisions
    • Best Buy: Consumers can now drop off items with screens up to 32 inches for tube televisions and 60 inches for flat-panel televisions, free of charge. In addition to televisions, the in-store recycling program includes computer monitors, DVD players, audio and video cables, cell phones and other electronics.
  • Toys
    • Children's Toys are harder now with that law about lead, so Impact DOES NOT take toys. Lots of preschools and Cradles to Crayons in Conshohocken will take them.
    • Swap them on Zwaggle 
      Each donation you make earns you points toward zwaggling your way into a new traded toy
  • Trophies
    • Total Awards & Promotions, Inc. has created a trophy recycling program to benefit charities. Through a mail-in program, the company’s Madison, Wisc. headquarters recycles your defunct awards or re-engraves and donates them to nonprofit organizations.  As of July 2010, they were no longer accepting tophies...
  • Umbrellas (yes, broken ones!)  This group upcycles them into other products.  
  • Vacuums
  • Weather Stations (home)
  • Wedding Dresses: http://bridesagainstbreastcancer.org/
Other resources:
  • Montgomery County Recycles
  • Give back to the Elmwood Park Zoo: http://www.elmwoodparkzoo.org/support/waystogive/wishlist.html : They'd like old handbags, large cardboard boxes and fruit/veggies from your garden.  Check out the complete list.
  • This website allows you to search for businesses that rent, repair, or sell used products across Pennsylvania: http://www.useitagainpa.org/
  • Terracycle:  They get people to collect and mail back in postage paid envelopes things that are "up-cycled" into new and usable products.  They make school supplies, bags, firelogs, and worm compost in crazy ways. You can collect juice pouches, yogurt containers, chip bags, cookie and candy wrappers- and get $$ back for charities!!!! These are all items that are difficult to recycle and usually end up as trash.
  • The "Give n Take" Shop located in the former Apple Basket store, in the Shoppes at Limerick Center. Everything is Free. BRING SOMETHING. Take something. Open Fridays and Saturdays 10 am to 2 pm.
  • The Recycling Services center in Pottstown takes plastics 1-7, along with electronics, styrofoam and so much more. Location: 365 Elm Street, Pottstown, 610-323-8545, and the facility is open for public collection on Tuesdays and Saturdays (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.). They charge an $8/car gate fee, so consider loading up with your neighbors’ No. 3 through 7s, too, before you head out there.
  • Earth911  - website that lets you put in your zipcode and what to recycle and then will tell you where to take the item.
RECYCLING COMPARISON FOR WHITPAIN TOWNSHIP TRASH HAULERS:  this list was updated 9/30/10.  Let me know if you have anything to add and check with the company directly for changes.  Upper Dublin uses Recycle Bank to collect everything now, except for plastic bags and styrofoam: all milk and juice cartons, box and other cardboard, newspaper, bottles all colors, plastics #1 thru #7.

Ambler Boro Recycling Guide (pdf)

Allied Waste Services (now Republic Services), 372 S. Henderson Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406, (610) 265-6337
  • YES: Newspapers, Inserts, Junk Mail, Magazines, Catalogs, Envelopes, Paper Back Books, Phone Books, Cardboard, Clean Pizza Boxes (cut cardboard to 12" squares), Office and School Papers, Colored Paper, Boxboard, Paper Egg Cartons, Paper Bags, Aluminum Cans, Clean Foil, Tin and Steel Aerosol Cans, Glass Jars and Bottles, Plastics #1-#7.  I have a verbal YES on Milk/Juice Cartons
  • Allied Waste is now Republic Services, and they will be adding Recycle Bank as an option for Whitpain, Upper Merion, Worcester and East Norriton Townships starting Feb. 7, 2011.  Residents can earn credit for the weight of their recyclables and get coupons from local merchants.

ChesMont Disposal, P.O. Box 1500 • Skippack, PA 19474, 610-584-5450
  • YES: Aluminum, Tin & Bi-Metal Cans, #1 thru #7 Plastic bottles & jugs (caps removed), Cartons, Corrugated cardboard (flattened & bundled in 2ft x 2ft sections, no thicker than 10 inches ), Greeting cards, regular & junk mail, Cardboard beverage carriers, Paperboard boxes (cereal, pasta & tissue), Newspapers, magazines, brochures & inserts(placed in a paper bag or bundled), Phone books, Glass bottles, File folders, office paper, Loose metal jar lids & steel bottle caps, Paper towel rolls, Paperback books
     
  • NO: Scrap metal, Plastic bags,Plastic lids & caps, Plastic 6-pack holders, Needles or syringes, Plastic microwave trays, Frozen food, ice cream or frozen juice containers, Window panes, mirrors, ceramics & Pyrex dishware, Plastics other than those listed, Paint, pesticides, oil & cleansers, Stickers or address label sheet waste,  Waxed paper or waxed cardboard, Styrofoam or paper to-go containers

G&C Industries, Inc., 2955 Felton Road, East Norriton, PA 19401, (610) 313-9710
  • YES: Plastics #1-#7, Cardboard and box board containers, Cereal type boxes and packaging, without liners, Aluminum and tin cans, Glass containers (bottles and jars), Plastic milk jugs, soda and bottled water containers, Plastic shampoo and detergent containers, Newspapers, magazines and phone books, White copier paper,Junk mail
J. P. Mascaro & Sons, 315 W. Sixth Street, Bridgeport, PA 19405, (800) 432-1616
-here's a link to how they recycle the recyclables!
  • YES: Glass, Aluminum, steel, tin, or bimetal food and beverage containers, PLASTICS: #1 thru #7. Look for a #1 thru #7 recycling symbol imprinted on the container bottom. Newspapers, magazines and junk mail 
  • NO: No ceramics, light bulbs, heat-treated or plate glass, headlights, mirrors, windshields or glass blocks, aluminum foil or food trays. No aluminum scraps.  No plastic delivery bags

Waste Management, 400 Progress Drive, Telford, PA 18969,(215) 257-1142 (800) 328-1717
-Single Stream, recycle #1 - #7 plastics.  Are not currently partnering with Recycle Bank.

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The following is an excerpt from Your Green Abode: A Practical Guide to a Sustainable Home by Tara Rae Miner (Mountaineers Books, 2010):  Once you’ve taken a vow to create less waste in the first place, your next assignment is to recycle whatever and whenever you can. ... The Natural Resources Defense Council sums it up: “Recycling is one of the most feel-good and useful environmental practices around. The benefits go way beyond reducing piles of garbage—recycling protects habitat and biodiversity, and saves energy, water, and resources such as trees and metal ores. Recycling also cuts global warming pollution from manufacturing, landfilling and incinerating.”



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