Vikram Kumar asked:


Have you heard that in the United States alone, there are about 480 printer cartridges being thrown every minute? This means that every hour, there are about 28,000 cartridges discarded. In order to compare it will other things, it is estimated that the weight of the used ink cartridges used in America alone is the same with the weight of almost 67,600 Ford Explorers or the weight of almost 112,500 Volkswagen beetles. With these huge amounts of printer cartridges used everyday, it is high time that you do something about it. You should try to reuse and recycle in order to help the environment.

The most common users of printer cartridges are the business sector. They are usually the ones who consume a lot of ink since they get to print documents for their offices. Next to them are the households that changes toners at least twice every year, depending on their printing needs. In order to save the environment, there are several ways on how to recycle these used cartridges.

One and most practical way is by reusing your printer cartridges. You can refill this by buying a refill kit. Refill kits can help you save on ink costs. The refill kits come with everything that you need. It contains the ink, whether black or colored, that you will put inside the cartridge. The kit also has a syringe, which you will use to insert the ink. You will need to inject the ink inside of the cartridge. It also has a pair of plastic gloves that you will use to keep your hands from stains. Lastly, it has a manual of instructions on how to properly do the procedure of the refill. The price of the refill kit is usually half the price of the original ink. If properly refilled, the output of the ink is almost the same as the original ink. The cartridges can be refilled up to six times.

Aside from refilling the printer cartridges, you can also recycle the toner printers by sending it back to the company where you bought the cartridges. There are some companies that give special instructions for their clients on how they can recycle their cartridges. You can visit their sites for these instructions. There are also some companies that require their clients to send back to them the used cartridges. The companies shoulder the cost of the shipping.

Another option is to bring these printer cartridges to retailers. This serves as their after sales strategy to their clients. There are even some stores that offer trade-ins. These stores give incentives such as store coupons, free products or discounts on some items that you will purchase from them.

As a summary, you can help save the earth by recycling and reusing your printer cartridges. You can either reuse it by refilling it with new ink or you can also recycle it by sending it back to the ink manufacturers or cartridge retailers. With these steps, you can save money at the same time and you can also save the earth.

John C. Arkin asked:


When your old Dell inkjet cartridges stop working in your printer, you may be tempted to just toss them in the trash before buying a brand new one. However, that is not your only option. You can also choose to either recycle or refill your used your cartridges in order to save the environment and/or money.

Refilling Dell Cartridges

Refilling your Dell cartridges is a good way to save money on ink supplies. Although the manufacturers aren’t crazy about the practice because you won’t be handing over more of your hard-earned money to them, there is nothing wrong with reusing the cartridges. It’s a good way of doing your own recycling while also saving money.

When to Refill

One important point to remember about refilling your used cartridges is that you cannot wait until they are completely empty. If you wait too long, the ink can end up clogging the nozzles on the cartridge which will prevent it from working correctly. Instead, refill when some ink is left in the cartridge.

The Refilling Process

First, you’re going to find a good place to work where a little bit of a mess won’t cause problems. Make sure to have plenty of paper towels handy as well. Now you’re ready to follow the process below:

• Use a 1/16 inch drill to make a small hole where the “E” in Dell is written on the top of the printer ink cartridge

• Fill a syringe with about 10 to 15 milliliters of ink

• Slide the needle into the hold and slowly inject the ink. Make sure the needle goes deeply into the hard sponge that is included in the cartridge

• Keep above a paper towel for an hour to catch drips

• Return the cartridge to your printer after letting it set overnight

Final Refilling Tips

After you finish adding the ink, do not leave the cartridge on a paper towel. The towel will re-absorb the ink and delete all of your hard work. Also, be sure not to leave the cartridge out for too long without taping over the hole to prevent the drying up of the new ink.