Okay. I’ve got the soda cans and beer bottles down. I know that the No. 2 HDPE milk containers can be thrown into the curbside recycle bin but to keep the plastic bags breeding in the kitchen cabinet. Butter tubs can be used later to store leftovers, and those ol’ brown bags can, with a little bit of artistic endeavor, be turned into gift bags.

Figuring out what I can get away with chucking into the blue tub, or better yet, reusing, is like a game, but one that I ultimately know will help this good green Earth that I so enjoy. In my attempts to reuse and recycle, however, I have run into roadblocks. Sure, I can recycle a whole family of plastics, but what about items holding monstrous toxins, like batteries and cell phones? Crumbling Styrofoam can be written off as hopeless (and therefore, best not purchased), but how about my tired floppy discs? And, perhaps most seriously, is there another future possible for my polyester?

Upon investigation, I’ve found that there are many ways to prevent those old treasures and tools that you no longer need from retiring for a billion years in a landfill or on an ocean floor. Sometimes it takes getting creative. Other times, it takes just knowing who to call up and where to go.