Help Charities by Recycling Used Printer and Toner Cartridges

Fall is officially here, and that means it’s time for back-to-school sales, football games, and fundraisers. I know that latter have definitely begun, because I’ve already had a few visitors at my door trying to tempt me with $5 candy bars and magazine subscriptions. At least I’ll have something to read while sitting in the dentist’s waiting room.

While these types of fundraisers may be tried and true, there are other alternatives. For your next fundraising drive, consider doing something that will not only raise money for your charity or benefit, but will have a positive effect on the environment as well – recycle empty toner and printer cartridges.

The first thing to do when planning a recycling drive as a fundraiser is to locate a sponsor to buy the empty printer and toner cartridges.If you live in a large enough city, you might be able to make a deal with a local office supply store, copy center, or computer distributor.This could be hard though if you plan on gathering a sizable quantity of used cartridges.Even large chain office supply stores may not be able to handle the volume.

Another alternative is to work directly with a company that specializes in recycled printer and toner cartridges.Companies like this are generally very glad to take whatever quantity of cartridges you can throw at them, and they still pay a decent rate per item because they are able to re-use printer cartridges.

Organizations such as Recycleplace will not only work with you on whatever volume you can manage to collect, but they’ll also help you organize your fundraising event if you need assistance.They’ll even send you shipping containers with prepaid postage so you never have to spend a dime out of pocket to recycle the cartridges.

If you want your fundraiser to be as successful as possible, you’re going to have to look outside your immediate neighborhood for ways to gather empty cartridges to recycle. Although neighbors and friends are a good place to start, they’re most likely not going to generate the volume of used cartridges needed to make a dent in your financial goal.

Consider contacting area businesses, schools, and office buildings. Even though they may have their own recycling plan in place, they might be willing to suspend it when they find out about your cause. Don’t restrict yourself to businesses that obviously use a lot of ink. Nowadays, you’d be hard-pressed to find any store or business that doesn’t have at least one printer or copier. After awhile, all these options will add up.

In the end, you’ll probably find that most people will be more than willing to help. Despite common beliefs, people tend to like contributing to charitable causes, because it makes them feel like they’re helping out. On top of that, recycling empty printer and toner cartridges should make your efforts even more productive. After all, it’s a whole lot easier to donate your trash than it is to write out a hefty check.