The Environmental Impacts of Printer Cartridges
Many printer cartridge shoppers are thinking of cyan, magenta and yellow, when they should be thinking green. It seems impossible to think that those little ink cartridges can have such a negative impact on the environment, but the truth is shocking. Hundreds of millions of ink cartridges are thrown away each year, in North America alone. When thrown into landfills, these cartridges can take hundreds or even thousands of years to fully decompose.
Most people also do not consider the toxic chemicals and oil that is used in the production of ink, which is allowed to saturate into the environment when thrown away. Unfortunately, too many people are using their cartridges for one cycle and throwing them away to buy new. This is what has lead to the abundance of cartridges being added to landfills each year. It is important to understand how our careless actions can be detrimental to our world, and what we can do to make positive changes.
The best way to prevent contributing to this man-made phenomenon is to refill and recycle your inkjet and toner cartridges. Many may be unaware that there are refill kits that you can buy to refill your ink cartridges yourself. Cartridges can be refilled and reused numerous times before they become worn out, and these kits often contain more than one refill. Some manufacturers are also selling recycling mailer boxes which allow you to send in your empty cartridge, get it refilled, and have it sent back within hours of them receiving it. If a cartridge is too worn out, it is taken apart and the pieces are recycled in the appropriate manner.
Many photo labs, office and printer/cartridge specialty stores are also providing refill services where they will refill your cartridge within minutes, for a small fee. Actually, all of these methods are affordable options. Recycling mailer boxes and do-it-yourself refill kits are all cheaper than buying brand new cartridges. No matter which method you choose, you should take comfort in the fact that you are not contributing to the irreversible damage of our earth and are fostering positive changes for the future.
