One of my most recent recycling dilemmas involved glue and tape. I have two little girls who love to create what they call “masterpieces,” which usually involves paper, paint, markers, crayons, colored pencils, glue and/or tape. Unfortunately, my local recycling program does not accept empty glue sticks or tape dispensers for recycling. Recently, however, I found a company that will help me recycle my glue containers: Elmer’s Glue. The company, which began in 1947, started its recycling program for schools on Earth Day 2011. Here’s how it works:

• Sign up. Sign up your classroom at elmersgluecrew.com.
• Collect and clean. Collect your Elmer’s Washable School Glue and Glue Sticks. Clean the empty glue bottles and glue sticks as best you can with warm water. Elmer’s will accept all brands for recycling, although it can’t guarantee they will meet the strict standards for recycling of these types of plastics.
• Send for recycling. Both Walmart and TerraCycle offer ways to recycle your empty containers:
  • Walmart
    • Collect empty glue sticks and glue bottles.
    • Once your collection box is full, close the box and print the official Elmer’s Glue Crew Recycling Program mailing label and affix to the outside of the box.
    • Bring your full receptacle of empty glue containers to your nearest Walmart and give it to one of the Walmart People Greeters.
  • TerraCycle
    • Collect empty glue sticks and glue bottles.
    • Once you have collected at least 250 empty glue bottles or glue sticks, put them into a reused box (about the size of a copy paper box).
    • Sign in to your account at terracycle.net and click on “Get Mailing Labels” on the left side of the Elmer’s Glue Crew Brigade page to print a prepaid shipping label. Place the label on your filled box and take it to a UPS drop-off location.

I also haven’t found anywhere that recycles tape, but I have found a greener tape with a reusable dispenser. 3M makes Scotch Magic Greener Tape, which is an environmentally friendly version of the company’s original matte-finish invisible tape. The tape contains more than 75% recycled or plant-based materials based on the weight of the product, including the tape, dispenser and packaging. The two-piece refillable dispenser and the core within the roll of tape are both made from 100% recycled plastic. Scotch Tape has also collaborated with TerraCycle to keep used tape dispensers out of landfills. Through the Scotch Tape Brigade program people will be able to collect used Scotch Clear Tape dispensers and cores. Once 50 dispensers and cores are collected, they can be shipped back to be recycled and kept out of landfills. For more information on this innovative program, visit terracycle.net.