We like to keep things light and fun here at Island Return It, giving you tips and tricks for recycling with ease. We love all things recycling, and want to share our passion with you for the good of our planet.  Today however, we'd like to look at why we do what we do, and explore some of the benefits of recycling including some of the consequences of taking the earth for granted. Don’t worry, I promise this will still be light and fun...

This Earth Day, many of you are looking to strengthen what you can do to protect and preserve this planet. Here at Island Return It, we are proud to be a great resource for those of you looking to dramatically lessen what you put in your garbage. We have been around since 1995, and have regularly added to our roster of what we take back to be recycled and repurposed. That’s a bonus for those of you living on Vancouver Island. It will feel good to be utilizing the programs that are doing good work to responsibly recycle and reuse raw materials, that would otherwise end up in the landfill and our oceans. It’s worth mentioning that all items (bottles, cans, batteries, lightbulbs and ink cartridges, etc) can be returned at no cost, which isn’t always the case in other communities; and you get paid to recycle bottles, aluminum cans...

As part of our electronic waste recycling program we collect old TVs, along with computers, stereos, video equipment, [caption id="" align="alignright" width="320"] Old broken TV (Photo credit: schmilblick)[/caption] and many other electronics. When TVs arrive at our depots we have a special procedure we take when receiving and preparing them to be sent to processing plants in the B.C. interior because believe it or not, TVs are toxic. Despite international laws designed to prevent this, many developed countries send e-waste overseas to Asia and Africa. Inspections of 18 European seaports in 2005 found as much as 47 % of waste destined for export, including e-waste, was illegal. It is important that you know that when you recycle your electronic waste at Island Return It, we never send product overseas for dismantling. We use only approved facilities in North America. Older TVs Present a Special Challenge In particular, older TVs with CRTs (cathode ray tubes) need to be handled...

In case you haven’t figured it out, we’re really into recycling. Nothing excites us more than adding another product to our list of recyclable materials. We get pumped up about utilizing new technology to keep even more waste out of the landfill. You might even say that we are recycling geeks! If you would indulge us for a bit here, we’d love to geek out a bit and share some of the new advances in the world of recycling technology. These new breakthroughs might not affect our business immediately, but just being a part of such a dynamic and cutting edge industry is part of what keeps us in the recycling game. Did you know that there is now a machine called PaperLab from Epson that can turn used office documents into new paper in about 3 minutes? Not only that, but it is designed to be installed on site in offices,...

  The holiday season is suddenly here, so bring on the joy and bring on the cheer. Bring on the mountains of bright wrapping paper, and bring on the fruit cake you get from your neighbor. The parties, the presents, the real and fake trees, the packaging, lights, and the cheesy CD’s. Yes, this is the season for cheap decorations, and knocking back eggnog with friends and relations. Now hold on, this sounds like a season of WASTE, so here are some tips to keep trash in its place. Forget about cheap decorations this time, they clog up the landfills, we all know the kind. Instead, search your house, get creative this year, homemade can be simple, there’s no need to fear. If you throw a party, provide close at hand, a place for your guests to sort bottles and cans. And presents don’t have to be something you buy, it means so much more to give people your time. But if you get new electronics and stuff, be sure...