Listed below are various organizations (some in NYC) that are involved in recycling various types of products and materials. Please take advantage of them whenever and however you can.

Buy thoughtfully, use longer (preserve/repair), then recycle.

Cell phones Their circuit boards contain a toxic slew of cadmium, lead, mercury, and arsenic-heavy metals that leach into the groundwater and can cause cancer and birth defects. Last year, Americans discarded 140 million of the devices. Instead of contributing to this ecological nightmare, hook up with the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation, a nonprofit that collects discarded phones in every state and either recycles or refurbishes them. www.call2recycle.org

Shoes As part of its Reuse-A-Shoe program*, Nike will take your old funky-smelling sneakers and turn the rubber, foam, and fabric into three types of Nike Grind-a major ingredient in synthetic surfaces such as basketball courts, tennis courts, running tracks, and playgrounds. Niketown stores and Nike factory outlets will accept any brand of athletic shoes as long as they are not wet, are not cleats, and don't contain metal. www.letmeplay.com/reuseashoe

Carpet More than 4 billion pounds of carpet enter our landfills every year. Science's best guess as to how long it will take to decompose: 20,000 years. Carpet America Recovery Effort is a nationwide alliance that will connect you with a recycling center in your area. Your old carpet can be turned into new carpet, fiber padding, automotive parts, and a variety of other materials. www.carpetrecovery.org

Computers When our computers die, they are shipped to China, where workers are poisoned by lead and flame retardants when they tear apart the machines for scrap. Some of the lead is even fashioned into costume jewelry that is sold across China. A better method is to hold the manufacturers responsible for the recycling and safe disposal of their own creations. Dell and Sony now take back all of their products; Toshiba recycles its laptops; and Apple-if you buy one of its new computers-will properly dispose of any brand. You can even return your old iPod and get a 10 percent discount on a new one. www.computertakeback.com

Construction Materials More than a quarter of landfill waste comes from home construction and renovations. Take any salvageable materials - old doors or decking, a broken dishwasher - to one of Habitat for Humanity's ReStores, where DIY-ers buy them at deep discounts. ReStores are now in 45 states, and some have reported raising enough cash to build an additional 10 homes a year. www.habitat.org
Reduce, Re-use & Recycle

CDs and DVDs It's unknown exactly how long CDs and DVDs will remain at the bottom of our landfills, but it is known that at many municipal dumps, the disks are incinerated and emit toxic fumes such as methane and monochlorobenzene. So instead of throwing them in the garbage, call GreenDisk, a company that will pick them up at your house and recycle them into car parts and office supplies. www.greendisk.com

Mail The United States Postal Service processes more than 8,000 pieces of mail per second. Last summer, to reduce the ensuing waste, USPS began providing free recyclable Tyvek envelopes for its priority and express-mail services. Return your stash of used envelopes directly to DuPont for reprocessing. Offices capable of collecting more than 500 envelopes a month can also create custom recycling programs. www.envelopes.tyvek.com

Food American households waste about 14 percent of the food they purchase, according to a recent study at the University of Arizona. When food is tossed into the trash, the nutrients it pulled from the land and sun become frozen in a landfill. But as any gardener knows, you can turn kitchen scraps into high-grade fertilizer by feeding them to earthworms. For $170, you can buy a trash-can-size bin with 1,000 red wiggler inside that can process a pound of food waste a day. www.planetnatural.com

Paint Americans discard so much paint that managing the leftovers costs the government $512 million a year. But a market for recycled latex paint is emerging. The largest organization, Amazon Environmental, recycles paint in three states. Some waste-management facilities also recycle paint. Find one near you at www.epa.gov.

Fleece Much of today's discarded outdoor clothing contains Polartec, a synthetic version of fleece that doesn't really decompose. To ease the burden on our landfills, Patagonia, Teijin, and Polartec teamed up to create the Common Threads Garment Recycling Program. A fifth of Polartec's offerings come from recycled fibers, and 100 percent of Polartec fabrics are recyclable. Drop off your old fleece at Patagonia stores and select retailers, or mail it to Patagonia's distribution center. www.patagonia.com

FREECYCLE NYC Uses e-mail to connect people who have things to throw away with people who can use those things. Any member of the community can post an item they'd like to give away, or an item they are seeking. Every item posted must be free. Freecycle New York City is open to all individuals who live or work in NYC. Membership is free. Part of a global network operating in 75 countries.

PARTNERSHIP FOR THE HOMELESS Accepts household furniture for donation to formerly homeless families. The drop- off warehouse is at 476 Jefferson Street (between Cypress and Scott) Brooklyn, NY 11237. They can pick up for $30 if there are at least two pieces of furniture, one of which must be a dresser or a sofa. Call 718-875-5353 to ask about pickup-service. They schedule two to three weeks in advance.

MATERIALS FOR THE ARTS Materials are gathered from companies and individuals that no longer need them and redistributed to artists and educators that do. Donors call: 718.729.3001 ext. 207 or visit the website. Artists and educators go to the website to complete an on-line application. The warehouse is located at
33-00 Northern Boulevard, 3rd Floor Long Island City, N.Y. 11101

BUILD IT GREEN NYC Accepts salvaged and surplus building materials (flooring, plumbing, electrical, appliances, architectural, etc.) and re-sells it at an 18,000 foot warehouse in Astoria. Also has a recycling drop-off program for residential electronics of all types, working and non working, including cell phones, TVs, computers, printers, cables, VHS tapes, discs, etc. Hours are Tuesday - Friday: 10am - 6pm Saturday: 10am - 5pm See the website for details. Address: 3-17 26th Ave at 4th St. Astoria, NY 11102 Phone: 718-777-0132

GREEN DEMOLITIONS Works with contractors and individuals to receive donated kitchens, appliances, bathrooms and household items and re-sells them in its stores at a discount. Proceeds benefit a 12-step program. Operates in CT, NYC, NY. Stores in CT, NY and PA

Lower East Side Ecology Center
Electronics recycling events, composting drop offs
Gathers electronics on specific days and times. See website for drop off days and sites

Compost Drop-off Sites
Union Square Green Market Composting Stand, Union Square Park . Currently at the SE end during construction, 15th Street and Park Avenue South. Year-round: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 8am to 5pm

Lower East Side Ecology Center Garden North side of East 7th Street between Avenues B and C
Open year-round: Sundays 8am to 5pm. Other times drop off through the opening at the gate

6/15 Green Community Garden
Composting 6th Avenue & 15th Street Park Slope Brooklyn www.615green.org/programs.htm 6/15 Green is a public compost site where the general public is invited and encouraged to add compostables during open hours from April through October: Saturdays 10 am to 2 pm, Sundays 4 pm to 8 pm, and Thursdays 6 pm to 8 pm, or whenever the gate is open.

For more recycling and re-use organizations and resources go to:
www.recyclethisnyc.org
www.Earth911.org

JUST FOOD Just Food partners city groups with regional farmers to provide high quality, locally-grown, affordable produce and meats.

They also run City Farms, a project which encourages NYC community gardeners to grow, distribute, and market more food within their communities. Phone: (212) 645-9880