List of companies that recycle

I'll start the first post by listing

Dominion supermarkets: plastic bags
IKEA: batteries, light bulbs (not sure if all light bulbs)

Bestbuy: old CD's/DVD's, batteries, portable DVD players, cell phones, ink cartridges
http://www.bestbuy.ca/marketing/recy...gon=&langid=EN

Originally Posted by jayk

I'll start the first post by listing

Dominion supermarkets: plastic bags
IKEA: batteries, light bulbs (not sure if all light bulbs)

Bestbuy: old CD's/DVD's, batteries, portable DVD players, cell phones, ink cartridges
http://www.bestbuy.ca/marketing/recy...gon=&langid=EN

BestBuy may recycle but they are one of the least green companies in existence when you consider what they sell.

Here is one really green company - Starbucks. It is actually in Starbucks vested interest to avoid global warming as it would cause global coffee bean prices to skyrocket. As such they have always had a very forward-thinking environmental policy. They even fund footprint analysis of their stores to find ways to reduce footprint wherever possible. http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/envaffairs.asp

Originally Posted by brunes

BestBuy may recycle but they are one of the least green companies in existence when you consider what they sell.

Here is one really green company - Starbucks. It is actually in Starbucks vested interest to avoid global warming as it would cause global coffee bean prices to skyrocket. As such they have always had a very forward-thinking environmental policy. They even fund footprint analysis of their stores to find ways to reduce footprint wherever possible. http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/envaffairs.asp

but I thought Starbucks makes a lot of platic cups for kids

Originally Posted by jayk

but I thought Starbucks makes a lot of platic cups for kids

Starbucks cups are made of recycled paper.

Only their cool drinks are in plastic cups.

They also pay fair trade like wages to the coffee farmers.

They are a pretty responsible company. More so than Tim Horton's thats for sure.

Originally Posted by brunes

Starbucks cups are made of recycled paper.

Only their cool drinks are in plastic cups.

They also pay fair trade like wages to the coffee farmers.

They are a pretty responsible company. More so than Tim Horton's thats for sure.

yeah I hate seeing Tim Horton's cps all over the place. I remember on campus, the garbage cans would be overflowing with them, and the cups would be everywhere on the floor.

MEC has recently started a program to collect polyester based clothes and recycle them. I think if the clothes are still in decent order then they just donate them though.

http://www.mec.ca/Main/content_text....=1192710720999

Patagonia has been recyling their capline clothes for a while too. Though I'm not sure how you would get these clothes to them from Canada. Probobly best just to drop them off at MEC.

BTW - I believe that MEC also has a battery recycling program in place and has switched over to biodegadable bags as well (I will comment that the Halifax store had not as of last xmas, but I hope they have by now).

Originally Posted by brunes

Starbucks cups are made of recycled paper.

Only their cool drinks are in plastic cups.

They also pay fair trade like wages to the coffee farmers.

They are a pretty responsible company. More so than Tim Horton's thats for sure.

I heard that Starbucks stores in Winnipeg even recycle used white paper cups...they send them to an earthworm composting place....that is pretty amazing.

Pathetic how many mom and pops still use styrofoam cups...

Originally Posted by jayk

I'll start the first post by listing

Dominion supermarkets: plastic bags
IKEA: batteries, light bulbs (not sure if all light bulbs)

Bestbuy: old CD's/DVD's, batteries, portable DVD players, cell phones, ink cartridges
http://www.bestbuy.ca/marketing/recy...gon=&langid=EN

I'm glad you posted that link for BB, now i can finally find a place to recycle all my CDs.

Originally Posted by granite_grrl

MEC has recently started a program to collect polyester based clothes and recycle them. I think if the clothes are still in decent order then they just donate them though.

http://www.mec.ca/Main/content_text....=1192710720999

Patagonia has been recyling their capline clothes for a while too. Though I'm not sure how you would get these clothes to them from Canada. Probobly best just to drop them off at MEC.

MEC only accepts polyesters that were made by them. Seems like a token effort to me.

Originally Posted by Grassgreen

I heard that Starbucks stores in Winnipeg even recycle used white paper cups...they send them to an earthworm composting place....that is pretty amazing.

Pathetic how many mom and pops still use styrofoam cups...

I saw a sign in a Booster Juice store with a pretty convincing argument on the styrofoam cups/paper cups issue. They claim more energy and more petroleum products are used to make paper cups than styrofoam cups.

Originally Posted by Impossibles

I saw a sign in a Booster Juice store with a pretty convincing argument on the styrofoam cups/paper cups issue. They claim more energy and more petroleum products are used to make paper cups than styrofoam cups.

To me this is a strawman. argument. You may use slightly more energy / unit to make paper cups than styrofoam cups, but

- Recycling paper cups takes less energy than styrofoam cups, and there are more facilities available
- Paper cups biodegrade, foam never does
- Wood is a renewable resource. Oil is not
- Energy can come from clean, renewable sources. Oil can not.
- Lots of landfills incinerate their trash. Doing so with styrofoam releases all kinds of nasty gases. not with paper.

In the end, booster Juice is just taking the cheaper option. If it was better for the environment to use styrofoam, Starbucks would be doing so, because they're cheaper to get than paper cups.

Originally Posted by Impossibles

MEC only accepts polyesters that were made by them. Seems like a token effort to me.

What? Then why do they say this:

How does it work?
When you have an item of polyester clothing that's no longer useful, bring it to your local MEC store. (Clean it first, please!)

We accept any of the following with a 90% or greater polyester content:

MEC™
Polartec® (any brand)
Eco Circle™ (any brand)
Patagonia® Common Threads Recycling Program garments

Where are you getting your information from?

Originally Posted by Impossibles

I saw a sign in a Booster Juice store with a pretty convincing argument on the styrofoam cups/paper cups issue. They claim more energy and more petroleum products are used to make paper cups than styrofoam cups.

I'll make a mental note not to buy from them in the future.