Things You Didn't Know You Could Recycle

Americans really don't recycle as often as they should — whether this is due to laziness, lack of accessibility of recycling bins, or just pure ignorance of the opportunity, tons upon tons of trash that could have been repurposed is instead trashed in landfills. According to data from the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2015 approximately 137.7 million tons of municipal solid waste were landfilled in the United States, much of which was from paper and plastics. 

The good news is that there are simple ways to make your life more Earth-friendly — no matter how inconvenient it may seem. Realistically, it may only take a few extra minutes of sorting recyclables and delivering donated items to save the planet from hundreds of years of decomposing garbage.

Plastic containers are usually labeled with a small recycling logo. Paper is almost always recyclable, along with cardboard, glass and the other typical items. However, there are regular household items that either aren't labeled or don't necessarily belong in the recycling bin but that you can still recycle through other methods. These are 15 of the most common items people don't know they can recycle.

Even if your bike is broken or has missing parts, you shouldn't throw it in the trash. Organizations such as Bikes for the World make use of bicycles and their parts to make new, affordable bikes for low-income households and developing countries.

Millions of crayons are made and sold each year — many of which are later thrown away. The National Crayon Recycle Program makes use of all those discarded crayons by recycling them into new crayons, which are later donated to organizations that need them, such as inner city art programs, hospitals, orphanages, battered women's shelters and homeless shelters. So far, the organization has prevented 120,000 pounds of unwanted crayons from going into landfills and allowed them to continue their coloring magic.

No matter how good or bad your eyesight, don't throw away your old pair of eyeglasses. Eye doctors, organizations and even libraries often will collect discarded prescription glasses to repurpose their parts for those in need. Most often, your leftover lenses are given to someone with the same prescription; other times, the lenses are reground and reshaped to fit a new person's eyes.

Ink and toner cartridges for printers can't be thrown in your usual recycling bin, but they can be recycled. Many office supply stores will collect the empty cartridges; some even offer rewards for turning them in.

You might think the cleanest thing to do is throw your razors in your bathroom trash when you're done with them. But there are worse sources of bacteria in your home; and razors can almost always be recycled with your glass, metals, and plastics. To make your shave even more environmentally-friendly, use peanut butter to shave with instead of pressurized shaving creams and other chemical products — yes, it really works!

No matter what kind of exercise you enjoy, this recycling opportunity could apply to you. Yoga mats, metal weights and even basketballs can be donated to companies that recycle old sports equipment.

It might sound gross, but somebody wants to reuse your old toothbrush. Recycling companies can use the plastic from the handle, so it won't rot away for years in a landfill.