Who doesn’t have at least one or two (maybe 20?) VHS tapes hanging around? Even if you only have a DVD player, I’m sure there’s still a tape lingering around somewhere.
Our excuse for keeping all of the old tapes is that we hate to just throw them in a landfill.
While you can’t just toss those old tapes into the recycle bin, there are lots of other ways to recycle them.
If you’d like to help out a worthy cause while cutting back on your clutter, you can donate your old VHS tapes to the Alternative Community Training (ACT) organization.
This Missouri based organization provides work for disabled individuals. They currently have more than 55 employees erasing and repacking donated VHS tapes and floppy disks. This program brings in about $500,000 annually.
ACT accepts several types of old media for recycling. If you would like to send them your old VHS tapes, fill out this form.
You can also submit your old tapes (and other old technology) to GreenDisk for proper disposal. You can fill out an address label, and depending on where you live, FedEx will come by and pick up your “techno trash.”
Kind of crafty?
There are lots of creative ways for you to re-use old VHS tapes. If you like to knit or crochet, you should check out My Recycled Bags.
If knitting isn’t your thing, check out these ideas from craftstylish. There are several different suggestions, but I like the bookends using old VHS tapes and Cds the best.
Recently, I read in a magazine that certain artists like to work with old VHS tapes. I didn’t save the article and couldn’t find any artists currently searching for old tapes. But this also sounds like a great option. Maybe you know an artist who might be interested or live near a school with an arts program that might accept your old tapes?
If you’re short on time, here are some other easy ways to recycle your old tapes:
Give them away on craigslist or freecycle.
Donate them to your local library or thrift store.
Give them away or sell them at your next garage sale.
Sell them on eBay or amazon.
How have you recycled your old VHS tapes?
A very informative post and a good resource of ideas on what people can do with those old vcr tapes. Stumbled and reviewed the post in hopes of spreading the idea of recycling and upcycling the tapes rather than seeing them in our landfills.
Thanks for doing that, RecycleCindy! And I do love your bags!!
I Have a lot of old vhs tapes,cartoons ,disney ,some really good movies could you help me find a place for them. Thank you
Katie.
Katie, I think you should try one of the options listed in the post. Any one of them should help you. Parents of small kids are always looking for affordable entertainment, so it should be easy to find a home for the Disney movies.