Reuse. Reduce. ReLearn.

I can remember as a kid my Dad taking me to the local grocery store in our section of Downey, Ca. (Bet you didn't know I lived in SoCal as a kid, huh?) We'd take the aluminum cans we'd collected all week or month long, to a machine in front of the store. We'd then place them in a cup holder, press a button, and watch the cans be smooshed into a tiny compact circle. (This was really cool to watch!) After all the cans had been inserted, the machine would spit out a receipt, and we'd go to a cashier who'd give us some money for recycling the cans.

And what I originally saw as a form of visual amusement as a child has been rationalized in my adulthood by society-at-large. We as a people are continuing to realize that we produce WAY too much waste. Often a large portion of our waste is stuff that shouldn't even be in a landfill to begin with. Things like plastics (bottles especially) can be melted down and recycled. Old tires can be re-treaded or turned into carpet. (I kid you not!) And to think of all the things your aluminum can could be if it wasn't in your garbage can. (The NASA Space Shuttles are actually made out of a high-grade aluminum.)

With all that said, this blog isn't going "green", but as the host "Dirty Jobs" on Discovery Channel once put it, it's going "brown". The following site I'd like to feature is TonerBuyer.com. An entrepreneurial company that recognizes the need to recycle, but also that they should compansated others for collecting the materials. (Something often ignored with many recycling programs who also make a profit from the materials they collect.) I'm hoping that in the future, other companies will realize that in order to better the Earth and their Business, that they will have to share their profits with their "benefactors".

TonerBuyer.com:In a Nutshell...
-They have a list of a variety of used ink cartridges that they buy on their site.
-The pay maybe anything from $0.25 to $22.00!
-And they also pay for shipping, so you're no longer stuck having to fork over postage to send something that they're eventually going to re-sell!
-However, you will need a minimum of 11 to start with, but if you hit up all your friends/work place, I'm certain you'll be able to find more than enough.