Printer Cartridges

Finally I will start writing to you a bit about the TCEA conference I attended February 6-10. This is a way for me to sort through what I learned and also to share it with others (if there are others reading the blog!)

The first thing that I am going to mention is about Printer Cartridges. I have always wondered why Office Depot or Office Max felt that it was worth their time to collect used printer cartridges and actually give customers free reams of paper for it. I just knew that it wasn't just environmental concerns on their part, they had to be making money on it. So, I was interested to see a program called Texas Cash for Texas Kids which had a booth at the conference. This is a company that recycles (?) empty cartridges and has made it into a fundraiser for schools. They encourage schools to collect cartridges and then they will buy them. The schools benefit from the funding and also it gives schools and families a way to discard empty cartridges (and old cell phones).

I still don't know why they are valuable, but I would rather benefit schools than corporations, so it seems like a good idea. I am skeptical though that they are actually being refilled and resold. I wonder if there is a part of them that is valuable and these companies remove that piece and throw out the rest. hmmmm...