What can you do with all those books?

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Jim Rosenau's Bookcase

This bookcase was made by artist Jim Rosenau. Photo used with permission.

You could create great furniture out of books like that of Jim Rosenau in Berkeley, California.  You owe it to yourself to visit his site, This Into That to see more of his artwork.

Or you could donate them to one of the libraries in the Metropolitan Library System.  Books donated to the library are then sold in the annual  Metropolitan Library’s Friends of the Library Book Sale.  According to a story by Annette Price on NewsOK.com, the Friends of the Library has contributed grants totaling $2.9 million dollars to the Metropolitan Library System since the first book sale in 1981.

This year’s sale is from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm on Saturday, February 25 and Sunday, February 26 at the State Fair Park in Oklahoma City.  Admission is free.

Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma recycles styrofoam

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Finding places in Oklahoma City to recycle styrofoam (or expanded polystyrene foam as I prefer to call it) has always been challenging.  Many recycling centers and curbside recycling programs do not accept styrofoam. Thanks to a donation from the ONEOK Foundation to Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma (GICO), recycling styrofoam in Oklahoma City has been made much easier.

Through the ONEOK donation, GICO purchased a densifying machine that removes the air from styrofoam products and condenses it to a lightweight plastic that can then be sold for reuse.  All nine Goodwill retail stores and fourteen attended donation stations (see locations) accept styrofoam, which should be clean before donated.

Among the benefits this program brings to our community are convenient locations to take styrofoam to be recycled, job creation and training programs at Goodwill, and the opportunity to keep tons of non-biodegradable materials out of the landfill. GICO has served Oklahoman for 76 years and employs more than 500 people.

Sold my cell

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Gazelle Shipping KitWhen gold buyers were running television commercials inviting people to mail in their gold for cash a couple of years ago, I couldn’t believe that anyone would think that was a good idea. So, why should mailing your cell phone to a company in hopes of getting a check back be any different? Maybe the thought of getting some value out of something that had no value for a couple of years is different.

Although there are several options available for selling old phones, in the interest of blogging science I decided to sell my phone using one of the online buying services.  My original intent was to use two or three different services then compare the results.  Well, it turns out that only one of my phones had any monetary value at all.

I decided to test Gazelle.com. On January 18, 2012 I setup an online account and provided my email address, mailing address and details about the phone.  They made an offer for the phone and gave the option of earning 5% more by taking payment in an Amazon Gift card. I originally asked for the gift card, but later opted for the check. I had no problems making this change with the help of their online chat service.

On January 24, 2012 the shipping kit they promised to send arrived.  On January 25 I carefully packed my phone and mailed it to them in the USPS prepaid box they sent.  Using the tracking number they provided, I was able to see that the package arrived in Roseville, California on January 30.  Within a few hours after it arrived, I received an email confirming that it arrived along with this message: “We’ll open the box up shortly and check your items into the system to get you through our process fast.”

On February 1st I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the phone was worth more than twice the amount that they had offered me and that I would be receiving a check for $97.00. On February 9th, the check arrived.

Naturally there are risks in a transaction like this, but I have to say Gazelle.com was more than fair to me in this exchange.

“Re-calling” cell phones benefits charities

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Oklahoma-based Pace Butler Corporation has a fundraising plan that not only helps schools and charities raise money, but is beneficial to the environment as well. Essentially, organizations collect old cell phones send them to Pace Butler who then evaluates the phones and issues a check.

More than 78% of the nearly 70,000 phones they receive each month are functional and capable of being repurposed. As part of their service, they provide secure data destruction and reset the devices back to the factory setting.  Phones that are no longer usable are recycled at an ISO certified destruction facility.

While the success of a fundraising program like this is  clearly dependent on the number and quality of the phones collected, it’s a “win-win” anyway you look at it. The school or charity will earn money on the usable phones they collect and will help ensure the proper disposal of unusable devices. With cell phones being replaced every 21 months the ingredients for a successful fundraiser are certainly available.  For more information visit the fundraising page on their website.

How many electronic devices do you own?

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The product life cycles for household electronic devices is getting shorter everyday.  Cell phones, tablets, GPS, DVD players, computers, digital cameras and other electronic devices have in a relatively short amount of time become integral parts of our lives. On average U.S. cell phone users replace their phones every 21.7 months according to a study conducted by Recon Analytics. The EPA estimates that U.S. households own nearly 3 billion portable electronic devices (that’s about 26 per household).  Many of those devices still work but are no longer used.

So, the U.S. household average is 26, how many do you own? I counted 27 at our house (Good, finally, I’m above average). By the way, does anyone need a Sony Walkman?  Over the next few weeks I’ll be exploring options for making good use of my electronic menagerie.

The Amazing ecoATM turns your cell phone into cash

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San Diego-based ecoATM has made it easy for consumers to eCycle old cell phones and other portable electronic devices. According to their website, the self-serve ecoATM kiosk ”quickly inspects and assigns real-time secondary market value, collects/bins portable devices, provides payment to the consumer, and administrates any additional trade-in promotions/discounts loaded by the OEM and/or retailer.”  Consumers can accept or reject the offer and even have the option of donating all or part of the proceeds to charity.

Watch this video to see how it works.

While most of the kiosks are located in Southern California (none in Oklahoma yet), the company plans rapid expansion this year.

Let me see … what can I do with my old glasses?

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Lions Eyeglasses Collections Box

Eyeglasses collection boxes are located in Oklahoma City-County libraries

Prescriptions change, styles change, so sometimes we wind up with eyeglasses we no longer use or want.  The Lions Club makes it easy to put those old eyeglasses to a good use.  Old eyeglasses may be donated through collection boxes located in each of the libraries in the Oklahoma City-County Library system (click here to see the list of libraries). The glasses are picked up each month, then taken to a private prison where they are cleaned, repaired, calibrated and labeled.  From there they are sent to The Texas Eyeglasses Recycling Center in Midland where they are boxed to be shipped for the next international mission.

Lions accept prescription and reading glasses in metal or plastic frames as well as sunglasses. There is a particular need for children’s glasses.

According to their website, it costs the Lions Club less than eight cents per pair to get eyeglasses to someone who really needs them.  To learn more about the significant need for eyeglasses and the tremendous impact they can have on the lives of the recipients, visit this page on their website:  153 Million Reasons Lions Recycle for Sight.