How to Dispose of Used Shavers
Do you have a bunch of used razors in your bathroom? Well, forget to throw them in the trash can where they used to land – you can now recycle all your disposable razors, hair and everything else, and all it takes is a simple mail-order bag.
This week, Gillette announced its partnership with TerraCycle , an online recycling program, to collect razors and blades of all kinds and brands. What exactly are the types? Think of any plastic disposable cartridges as well as any cartridge with replaceable blades. The program will even accept all rigid or flexible plastic packaging that comes with your shavers.
According to the program’s website , your razors will not be reused to shave another stranger’s legs or neck. Instead, any plastic will be cleaned up and recycled into new products like picnic tables, benches, and even pet food bowls. In the meantime, the metal from the razors will be smelted for reuse by manufacturers.
While the exact impact of disposable razors is unknown, EPA statistics from the 90s showed that Americans discard about 2 billion razors annually. And think about how that number has likely changed dramatically, given that so many gyms and spas now have locker rooms with an almost limitless supply of disposable razors (not to mention the rise of trendy low-cost brands like Harry’s and Dollar Shave Club . who are promoting reusable razors with disposable blades).
How can you contribute to solving the problem? Everything is very simple. You can sign up for the program on the TerraCycle website , download a tracking label for your package, and send it however you like (the only thing you need to do is the shipping cost).
If you are a business owner, organization, or just want to curb the problem of disposable razors, you can also sign up to become a razor drop-off point in your area. TerraCycle will also give you a free shaver basket.
So rinse your old razors and dry (although the program’s website clearly doesn’t require it, in our opinion it’s just good etiquette) and send them in! It’s safe to say that they will serve a lot better by helping to improve our public spaces as benches than they do in our landfills.