Our family has been recycling for years and up until recently we have always taken it to the county drop off center. Sometimes this meant we had very large stacks of recyclable material and my husband would get a little aggravated with me. However, I refused to pay for the curb side service when I could do it for free on my own.
Well, about six months ago we got a flyer from our trash service about how we could now get rewarded with gift certificates and coupons for our recycling efforts. This intrigued me, but it took about three months for me to get it together and call our waste service (yes, I'm not the fastest acting individual around). Once I found out that the service would cost $13.50 for three months with pickups every other week, I decided to investigate Recyclebank (where you get the gift certificates and coupons) and see what the rewards really were before I signed up for the service.
What I found was very convincing and is why today I pay the $13.50 to have the convenience of someone to pick up my recycling and by the way I am loving it!!!!! Recyclebank is all about encouraging, rewarding, and educating people about recycling and protecting our planet's future. Their website is incredibly informative and there are multiple articles that I need to sit down and read (note to self). But the part that convinced me to pay were the rewards. After collecting points for recycling you can cash them in for all kinds of things. Examples include:$2.00 off Kashi cereal, $2 off 2 Earthbound products (these are organic), $1 off a Coke product, gift cards from Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Olive Garden, Old Navy, and various amounts off of a minimum purchase at stores like Dicks, Foot Locker & K-Mart. The list could go on and on and there is definitely something for everyone. I personally love the coupons. This week alone I will be getting two bags of free carrots and a box of Kashi Cereal all FREE (one of my favorite words) thanks to Recyclebank.
In the end, I think I break even with the coupons that I use. But really I don't break even - we recycle more because I don't have overflow when I can't get to the recycling center and I have extra time to spend with my family doing more important things since someone picks it up for me:). So the $13.50 I pay is well worth it.
So if you recycle and this seems like something you would like to do follow this link and sign up:
Recyclebank. But do not fear if you don't recycle or Recyclebank is not available in your area. Recyclebank has many other ways you can earn points (they just don't add up as fast). One way everyone can earn right now is the Green Your Home Challenge. You can add over 100 points right now by entering. It is so simple and you might learn something along the way. If you are interested you need to sign up through your waste service and they will either send you info. about Recyclebank & how to sign up there too or you can give them your current account info. and they will make sure you get credit for recycling.
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