Paper Gator

A couple of years ago my family decided that we needed to do more to "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle". One of the ways we do this is through the "Paper Gator" offered at our kids' schools. Maybe you have seen these around and didn't know what they were for. Lucky for you I am doing this blog post ;-) A couple of things made me think of this today: gift wrap and the arrival of my new phone books. These are all recyclable through Paper Gator!

What is "Paper Gator"? I was surprised to find through my research for this post that it is located in Byron Center, Michigan! I would have thought it was a national program. Hopefully there are similar programs in other areas of the country!  Here is the website for detailed information http://papergatorrecycling.com/. My short summary: You save up your unwanted mail (shred if personal), catalogs, magazines, newspaper, gift wrap, and phone books. Take them to a Paper Gator bin to recycle. Paper Gator picks up the bin contents and pays that non-profit location $35 for every ton. It may not sound like a lot but it adds up and it's free for the non-profit location. I know the schools that we recycle through greatly appreciate their Paper Gator money to help supplement some of their budget cuts! We love this program so much that we even collect paper products from my in-laws to recycle through Paper Gator.