Water Cooler Bottles
The distributor should take the empties back when leaving new bottles.
Wine Corks
Cork Drop off: ReCORK was founded by Canadian footwear brand SOLE in 2008. They have a few Collection Partners in the Boston area where you can drop off natural corks (not plastic) from wine bottles. Find locations. Call to confirm.
A sustainability initiative funded by WidgetCo,Inc to help Forest and Ocean Conservation. They donate to select non-profit entities that clean plastic from oceans and prevent deforestation (2 cents for each natural cork received and they will see that plastic corks are recycled). You may ship as many wine corks as you can, up to 40 lbs. per box. Mail to Cork Club, 5000 Gulf Fwy., Bldg. 6, Houston, TX 77204. You pay for shipping.
CORK FOREST CONSERVATION ALLIANCE
Provides an opportunity for natural corks to be “upcycled” into other products. To avoid adding to the corks’ carbon footprint, they have developed a transportation system that brings the corks collected back to regional distribution centers on trucks that that would normally be going back empty. Please note that, in April 2022, Whole Foods wine departments were no longer collecting wine corks for recycling. Keep checking though.
Wire Hangers
Check with your dry cleaners — many accept hangers for reuse. (They may also accept the dry cleaning bags.)
Needham residents with an RTS sticker may bring metal hangers to RTS North Area for Scrap Metal.
Plastic hangers: Many thrift stores bundle plastic hangers together and sell them. They can also use donated hangers to hang clothes they sell in their stores. See if your local thrift store is interested in your old plastic hangers.
Updated July 2023.
