Nonrecyclable recycling at your neighborhood retail chain

Last resort should be landfill, but TerraCycle has a new solution for non-recyclable through convenient collection stations. TerraCycle collects unrecyclable products and creates them into new products, like gardenware, cleaners, handbags and office equipment. Pictured, the station collects tape rolls, caulking tubes, saw blades, paint brushes, chip bags, candy wrappers, fertilizer and soil bags, furnace filters and plastic bags.
TerraCycle locations were originally located at civic groups or schools, but has now gained greater reach and exposure thanks to partnerships with large retail chains such as Best Buy, Home Depot, OfficeMax and PETCO. The goal is to set up 10,000 stations at retail locations by 2010.
TerraCycle ensues its environmental quest with social responsibility: they will donate 2-6 cents to the charity of the collectors choice for each unit that enter the system. Not sure how effective or efficient this component might be, but then again, 6 cents can be considered as a lofty quarterly dividend on some stocks in today's economy.

Gift cards don't go to heaven

I was gifted a $200 gift card from Circuit City when I graduated from undergrad in 2001. What once seemed like a despairing recession no longer seems so bad by today's standards. At the time, I couldn't eat the gift card and I couldn't use it to pay off my PG&E energy bill--that reached an obscene four digit figure because of Enron.
One way or another, it's 2009 and I still have money on the gift card. Circuit City's liquidation sale is far from impressive nor cheap--at least not now. I used my money to buy a printer/scanner/copier and a stock of ink cartridges. This turned out to be a very thoughtful gift and purchase that will enhance my school and professional work. Gift cards are a great gift idea: it's discreet, as opposed to being tacky and giving cash; obligates the giftee to spend at a store; easy to ship and transport; and it's easy to wrap a gift card.
Unlike my Circuit City gift card that had a shelf life of 8 years, gift cards are made of plastic and aren't re-used or recycled. Much like water bottles and plastic bags, gift cards are starting to be scrutinized by treehuggers everywhere. It is more environmentally responsible than buying and wrapping a gag gift, but gift cards create an extraneous step in the gifting process that ends with another piece of unbiodegradable waste per gift. With more scrutiny, perhaps for Christmas 2009 a brand will have a potato-based gift card. That would be impressive.