Half Price Books, the nation’s largest new and used bookstore chain, will soon be recycling their used plastic gift cards.

2009-10-27T21:29:00.000-07:00

Half Price Books, ABnote and Earthworks team up to recycle gift cards click here to read more about this latest partnership.

Personal Finance: Ways to help the planet for Earth Day

2009-04-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

Sacramento Business, Housing Market News Sacramento Bee

By Claudia Buck cbuck@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Apr. 19, 2009 - 12:00 am Page 4D

If your wallet is weighed down by plastic gift cards, credit cards, gasoline cards and such, maybe it's time for some pruning. As we all know, clipping up or paying down costly credit cards can be a huge lift to your bank account.

But don't just snip and toss that plastic.

If it's a used-up gift card, ask to have it reloaded with cash (your local merchant will love you). If it's a no-longer-needed credit card, hotel key or other plastic, toss it in your recycling bin.
But check to be sure it's actually recyclable; some companies are converting to biodegradable materials. The Sacramento landfill says most aren't suitable for recycle.

A greener solution? Pop it in the mail to Earthworks System, a company in Solon, Ohio, that's on a crusade to rid the world's landfills of those tiny rectangles of credit.

Founder and president Rodd Gilbert, a plastics broker who started Earthworks as a business sideline, says 75 million pounds of PVC cards go into landfills each year.

"That's what we're trying to prevent," he says. "My goal is to keep it out of the earth."

His company gathers up millions of pounds a year of scrap PVC card plastic and reprocesses it into "100 percent recycled sheets" that are sold back to credit card manufacturers.

Most of his material comes from "skeletons, overruns and obsolete" stock left over from plastic card manufacturers. Other contributors are retailers like Rite-Aid, GAP, Applebee's and Whole Foods, as well as movie theaters, hotel chains, even universities that ship him leftover student IDs.

But what warms his heart are the "little soldiers," like the Ace hardware employee in Sacramento who sends an envelope stuffed with plastic cards every so often. Or the Arlington, Va., mom who was selling plastic scrip at her kids' school and couldn't stand the thought of all those used-up cards going into the local landfill. Her solution: She set up recycling boxes for used cards at her favorite retailers, then sends them to Earthworks.

"From a business level, I deal in dollars and cents all day," said Gilbert. "But when I talk to these people, it's just people who genuinely care."

For more information on Earthworks, go to www.earthworkssystem.com.

Looking for more creative uses for outdated plastic? Lots of crafty types are turning them into earrings, guitar picks, kids' toys, trivets and artwork.

To see some examples, go to: www.treehugger.com or www.creditcards.com (search for credit card crafts) .

Do you have green money-saving ideas? Share them with us at cbuck@sacbee.com.

Earthworks gift card recycling gets more attention from Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio

2008-11-18T09:12:00.000-08:00

Earthworks, LLC® is a company that is focused on educating retailers on how to create earth friendly recyclable plastic gift cards. Also, helping consumers with how to properly recycle these cards to be reused and create convenient methods for consumers to do so. For more information please read the article produced by the Cleveland Plain Dealer this week. If you would like to contact us about purchasing Earthworks® friendly cards for your business, or are a consumer and would like information on how to recycle your used cards go to our website at http://www.earthworkssystem.com/ or email us at recycle@earthworkssystem.com.

We hope you join us in our mission to make gift cards keep giving.
Earthworks®

Earthworks, earth-friendly plastic

Half Price Books, the nation’s largest new and used bookstore chain, will soon be recycling their used plastic gift cards.

Personal Finance: Ways to help the planet for Earth Day

Earthworks gift card recycling gets more attention from Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio