Recycle, re-ink

Want to save a few bucks while keeping some plastic out of the garbage? Recycle the cartridges from your printer, and buy refilled cartridges instead of brand new ones.

Almost eight printer cartridges are junked every second in the U.S., according to Cartridge World, one of many businesses that take old inkjet and laser cartridges, clean 'em up, and refill them to work like new in printers.

Office Depot notes that remanufacturing one laser toner cartridge can save a half-gallon of oil, plus keep two and a half pounds of plastic out of landfills.

Refilled (also called remanufactured) printer cartridges cost 15% to a third less than the original price, and I've found positive reports online.

I've been using refilled inkjet cartridges in my Epson printer at home with no problems, and the same goes for my husband's business which does a lot of color graphics printing. Likewise, the laser printers here in Yahoo!'s HQ use many remanufactured cartridges that are recycled after each use.

You can take your empty cartridges in and buy refilled ones at places like Cartridge World, many stores online, or big chains like Staples, Office Max, Office Depot, and Walgreens.

Check the store's website or call ahead to see what kind of discount you get for bringing the old ones -- sometimes you'll get a direct discount, and some stores simply sell the refilled cartridges at a low price regardless of what you bring in.

Also, some brands of laser cartridges (such as Hewlett-Packard) have the original packaging designed so it can be re-closed, and you can mail the empty cartridge back to the manufacturer for recycling. Makes it easy not to toss it in the garbage.

But whatever you do, I don't recommend refilling inkjet cartridges yourself. The results aren't pretty.