Anyone who owns an inkjet printer knows - usually all-too-soon - that their ink cartridges run out of printer ink. When this first has happened to you did you just throw out your cartridges or did you recycle them?

People around the world now are using literally hundreds of millions of ink cartridges each and every year. Sadly, approximately only 5% of these cartridges find their way to a recycling center when they're no longer useable.

The reason that this is a sad occurrence is that there are three very sound reasons why everyone should recycle their printer inks cartridges.

1. Any unused ink that is still in the cartridge can damage the environment.

2. The cartridge itself can hurt the environment if it ends up in a landfill.

3. Recycling will put extra money in your pocket.

You Can Help to Save the Planet When You Recycle Ink Cartridges

Ink cartridges are manufactured out of metal and plastic. They are often non-biodegradable. In addition, some printer ink can potentially be toxic.

Since much of the cartridges take a very long time to decompose, they end up just adding to space in landfills. And, when toxic components do decompose they often pollute the water that you and your loved ones will drink.

In addition, because the metals used in these cartridges come from mines and the plastics originate as petroleum, at some point in time both sources will be totally depleted. By recycling your ink cartridges you will be doing your part to extend the lifespan of these resources. What you do today will affect the generations that are still to come.

You Can Save Money by Recycling Your Cartridges

There are two ways that you can recycle your ink cartridges. The first would be to buy ink refill kits and refill the cartridges yourself. Or you could have your cartridges refilled at an ink refilling station. Whatever you choose, keep in mind that in order to assure the highest quality printing, you should refill each cartridge a maximum of two times.

If you do not want to bother refilling your cartridges or if you if they can't be refilled again you can take your empty cartridges to a recycling center. These centers often will pay you for your empty cartridges. Then they will deconstruct them and reclaim the metal along with some of the other components of the cartridge.

If everyone does their part and recycles their ink cartridges we will all reap the benefits associated with helping to save the environment - and we will save money as well. In these challenging times doing these simple things can only be of help to all of us.