TerraCycle is another company that offers Brita filter recycling. With their Brita Brigade, you can send in your filters, earn points for recycling, and use for charitable gifts, product bundles, or a payment of $0.01 per point to the non-profit organization or school of your choice. Each TerraCycle shipment earns points, and there’s no limit to how much you can send in.

If you’re trying to be an environmentally conscious unclutterer, you probably know that reuse is preferable to recycling. If someone can enjoy the paperback book I’m getting rid of, giving the book to that person (directly, or through a venue such as a used bookstore) is better than tossing the book into my recycling bin. But, sometimes the recycling bin is the right answer. If the book is falling apart or it’s a reference book that’s now seriously outdated, it’s ready to be recycled. Even more: TerraCycle has its Brigades, where you sign up to recycle a specific type of item, such as Brita filters, energy bar wrappers, drink pouches, or cheese packaging. You collect your specific item and then mail the collected items in, postage paid (in most cases).

If your family recycles like mine does, then anything resembling paper, plastic or metal goes into the appropriate recycling bin. However did you know you may be depositing products that cannot be recycled through typical processes? I am guilty of this — I had been mixing in kid food pouches with my regular plastics. Oops! A solution exists thanks to TerraCycle. It offers national programs (a.k.a Brigades®) to collect previously non-recyclable or hard to recycle waste like drink pouches, chip bags, and water filters. The waste is then made into new products ranging from recycled park benches to backpacks.