It's the 44th anniversary of Earth Day!  Go green. Reduce, recycle and reuse.   When it started back in 1970, only 20 million people recognized Earth Day, now more than a billion people around the world are expected to mark the day.  Here's an idea that will help you teach your kids about Earth Day and recycling using something very familiar to them, their crayons!

So, why crayons you ask?  From experience, I dislike using crayons that don't have a sharp tip or is just a nub.  Rather than just throw them away, consider recycling them!

More than 12 Million Crayons are made in the US, EVERY DAY!  They consist of petroleum based wax that eventually ends up in our landfills when they don't have to!

While researching Earth Day, I ran across a  MN based companyin Wayzata, called Crazy Crayons.

Their CRAYON RECYCLE PROGRAM takes unwanted, rejected, broken crayons to a better place, where they will be recycled into new crayons!  There isn't much work on your part.  Just sort through your kids crayons and decide which ones you no longer want, box em' up and ship em'!

They ask that you LEAVE THE WRAPPERS ON THE CRAYONS! That's cool, because I suspect that wouldn't be an easy task!  They say It's hard to sort the black, purple and blue crayons without wrappers. However, if your little one is already in the habit of taking the papers off, they will still accept them that way.

Oh, and if you're teaching colors, go ahead and have them sort by color before shipping.  Not only is it a great interactive learning experience, but the people in the crayon recycling workshop will be grateful.

They will accept all crayons, but sort out crayons that are pre-1995 due to the fact that they may have been made in foreign countries that may have questionable content.

Because you will have a small cost with shipping, they suggest that you ask your kids to help by raising money to cover that (just another learning experience)!  This will allow them to be involved in all aspects of the recycling procedure.

SHIPPING TIPS:

  • Use sturdy boxes that closely fit the amount of the contents
  • Crayons don't need to be in plastic bags inside the box.
  •  Please recycle your plastic bags and packing peanuts, we don't need them.
  •  Shipping companies charge extra for boxes weighing over 70 pounds.
  • Small packages (less than 5 pounds) will cost less shipping via the USPS. USPS offers Priority Flat Rate boxes for a standard fee regardless of weight.

SHIPPING ADDRESS:

CRAYON RECYCLING

16830 Edgewood Avenue

Wayzata, MN 55391

Congratulations on making the decision to "upcycle". According to Crazy Crayons, that's the process of converting waste materials or useless, unwanted products into new materials or products of a better quality for a better environment.

Learn more at crazycrayons.com!

 

 

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