USPS Free Recycling Program

Just heard about a great new program the US Postal Service is trying out called “Mail Back” that lets you recycle anything from iPods to old printer cartridges to PDAs. You just pick up a postage paid envelope from any of the 1500 participating post offices around the country, stuff your old Blackberry or digital camera inside and send it on its way. The Mail Back program is kicking off in 10 cities to start, including Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego.

Postage for your goodies is paid for by Clover Technologies Group, a company that recycles, remanufactures and remarkets printer cartridges and small electronics. Clover beat out 19 other companies to win the contract with the Post Office and has a “zero waste to landfill” policy – it does everything it can to avoid contributing any materials to the nation’s landfills. Click here for more on their recycling policies.

One thing to note – you don’t have to BE in one of the 10 chosen cities to take advantage of the program. Envelopes can be MAILED from anywhere - they’re just only AVAILABLE in the 10 participating cities for now. So if you don’t happen to live in one, get a friend who does to pop one in the mail for you. The $1.00 or so you’ll spend in postage to get the envelope is a small price to pay for keeping the planet healthier.

Full press release from USPS: Click here