Cell phones contain toxic elements and should not be thrown in the garbage can. I think the best way to dispose of old cell phones is to send them to www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com . This is a recycling program that was started by a 13-year-old girl who became inspired after talking to soldiers who had returned home from Afghanistan and how hard it was for them to not be able to communicate with their families while they were away. You can go to the website and print a prepaid mailing label. Your old phone is sold to a recycling company, and they then use the money to buy prepaid calling cards that are donated to soldiers overseas. Another program is Call to Protect and they reprogram cell phones to dial 911 and gives them to domestic violence victims. Go to  www.donateaphone.com  for more information

Another good source for getting rid of your old electronics is a company called  www.gazelle.com  I have not actually used this company yet, but I have read some good things about it. They will actually buy your old electronics. When you go to the site just type in what you want to sell in the search bar and follow the prompts and they will even send you a box with a prepaid shipping label. This is a good way to get rid of old electronics and make a little cash. I have no idea what they pay, but even if you only got a little bit you are still disposing of these things responsibly.

As far as VHS tapes, I sent mine to  www.greendisk.com  but I had to pay them to recycle these. If you have 20 pounds or less just pack it up in a box and send it to them (instructions on how to do this are on the site) and they charge $6.95 for the first 20 pounds and $.30 a pound after that. I estimate the whole thing with the shipping and having to pay the recycle cost me about 20 bucks, but at least I know they were disposed of properly. You can also send them things like old mouse’s, computer cords and related items.

Rechargeable batteries,commonly found in cordless power tools cellular and cordless phones, laptop computers, camcorders, digital cameras and remote-controlled toys should not be thrown in the trash. These batteries contain heavy metals that are toxic to the environment, many national retailers accept these batteries for recycling, including Home Depot, RadioShack, Sears, Target and Wal-Mart.

Another way to really help the environment as far as batteries are concerned is to purchase an alkaline battery recharger along with rechargeable batteries. This is from a company called Pure Energy, which is an environmentally friendly company. These batteries can be charged over and over, and therefore have a very low impact on the environment. Plus, when they can no longer hold a charge they do not contain any type of toxic materials and can be thrown in the regular trash. This particular charger charges batteries for things such as your portable CD players, remote controls or anything else that takes regular alkaline AA and AAA batteries. You can go to  www.Sundancesolar.com  to purchase Pure Energy products. When you go to main page, just type Pure Energy in the search bar and you'll see a list of all Pure Energy products. Look for the Pure Energy battery charger with six AA batteries. It is around $25. You can also order some extra AA batteries and AAA batteries, since the charger only comes with 6 AA batteries. This will likely save you a lot of money in the long run since batteries can get pretty expensive. I believe they also have other sizes of batteries that can be recharged but you would need to purchase the recharger that goes with those particular batteries. I mostly use AA and AAA batteries so I just went with that.

If you have athletic shoes that are still wearable One World Running will send still wearable shoes to athletes in need in Africa, Latin America and Haiti go to  www.oneworldrunning.com  Nike also has a program that reuses old shoes and turns them into playground and athletic flooring. For more information go to  www.Nikereuseashoe.com

Compact fluorescent bulbs can also be recycled. They are great for saving energy but not so great for the environment. These bulbs contain mercury. You can take them to your local IKEA store for recycling. There are other companies that will recycle them but they charge up to almost a dollar a bulb. This would be a good option for a business since they could probably write it off and help the environment. I am happy to see more and more businesses involved in recycling and using greener products. It shows a more responsible business in my opinion. I am much more likely to patronize a business that makes an effort in this area than one who does not given the choice.

Of course, you should never throw any kind of toxic chemical into the regular trash or the recycle bin. Things such as containers of drain cleaner, bleach, ammonia, bottles of fingernail polish remover, insecticides, old paint or any petroleum-based cleaning products usually have to be taken to a hazardous waste drop-off in your city.

So if you don't have time to plant trees or join Greenpeace then you can help the environment by recycling responsibly. Now go hug a tree!