Renee over at enviromom posted a very interesting question and idea. She writes about a local car seat recycling program in Portland, Oregon. It sounds so logical and wonderful, but is actually kind of complex to put into practice.
Think of all the car seats we all end up using, and how they are not ideal to pass on very much because after 5 or 6 years the safety is questionable. That is a lot of bulky material, plastics and Styrofoam heading to landfills everywhere.
Renee is seeking comments on her post to get a sense of the demand for car seat recycling programs. She asks,
"Would you recycle your child's expired car seat if you had the option to do so? Do you feel it's time for a national car seat recycling program? Would you write to car seat manufacturers about the importance of design for disassembly? If you comment, please let us know where you live, how many seats your family will use during your children's car seat years, and if you are ready to be part of the "critical mass" to let car seat manufacturers know it's time for a national program to take back and recycle those old car seats!!"
Way to be a proactive, powerful and inspiring green mom, Renee! I think I'll go leave my comment for her now.
Email me
favorite posts
relevant links
relevant blogs
good reads
Blog Archive
4 comments:
I absolutely think it's time for a national car seat recycling program. I am appauled that upon googling "recycling a car seat" I was unable to find any other option other than smashing it with a sledge hammer, cutting the straps and tossing it into the trash. I imagined the hundreds of thousands of seats every year being thrown into landfills. With all the buzz of being "green" today I cannot believe there are no other options. What a shame!
Jill
Mom of 3 in Michigan and owner of 5seats so far...
I found this blog simply because I am trying to find a program to which I can donate my defunct car seats!. I have twins and 3 pairs of car seats. There seems to be a program in Colorado, but I can't find one in San Francisco.
scarivin,
thanks for finding the blog! here in sf i have since found that the homeless prenatal program accepts used car seats as a donation (among other baby or pregnancy items).
http://www.homelessprenatal.org/
I would love to see a national car seat recycling program. Living in California you would think there would at least be one for the state but so far no luck finding one. We were able to use a car seat that my husbands first child had outgrown for a year with our daughter before it expired but now that we've bought a new car seat I hate to see the old one wind up in a landfill. Since we've just had our second child and are planning on more in a couple years we'll wind up having to buy new car seats for our future children. I've purchased an all-in-one seat for our new born and a forward facing car seat that becomes a belt positioning booster for our 18 month old so that we don't have to buy the infant carrier and then a regular car seat and then a booster, it makes me feel a little more eco friendly but if it winds up in the trash anyway - that's depressing.
Mell
Mom of two and six years before my current car seats expire, hopefully we'll have a solution before then.
Post a Comment