Conservation 101: the Compete to Conserve Blog

photo credit: striatic

Laptops, Camcorders, Game systems, printers—nearly any electronic product you have lying unused around the house could potentially be traded-in FOR MONEY. Well, technically not everything may qualify for trade-in value, but ecoNEW, the program behind this offer, does promise that items will, at the very least, be properly recycled.

Here’s how it works:

1. You choose a retailer—Sam’s Club, NEX Navy Exchange or Office Depot—and enter info about your product into the “Value Calculator.”

2. A trade in value is determined and a prepaid mailing label is printed so you can send your product to a certified partner. When the product is received, a branded gift card is sent to you in the amount of the trade in value. And if there is no trade in value assessed, you can still send the product for recycling.

3. Your traded in product may be resold or broken down for sale in parts, while the remaining pieces are recycled.

Although the program is administered by N.E.W. Customer Service Companies, Inc, a provider of extended service plans, buyer protection programs and product support for retailers, etc, the end game is undeniably in line with the green goals of Reuse and Recycle. 

For more info and a list of accepted products, check out: http://www.econewonline.com/

photo credit: Matt Callow

As pumpkin patches across the country hitch up their hayrides and welcome the harvest with visitors, eco-friendly sites are posting hints and tips to remind readers to choose and use their gourds wisely.

This isn’t going to be much different. In fact, in my search to find options of what you can do with pumpkins—aside from showing off your creative carving prowess—I found that many regions of the US and UK are promoting composting. Pumpkins in a landfill can produce weeds and, believe it or not, sprouts. Only to be covered with someone’s torn up sofa or old alarm clock.

Whether you put the post-holiday pumpkin into a curbside compost bin or into your home kit version, the gourd holds valuable nutrients that can make good fertilizer. In fact, one site even recommended that you just plant the jack-o-lantern shell into the garden, to decompose at will.

(more…)