Update as of Dec. 2021: Please note that this program no longer appears to be active (https://atmo.ca/).
Did you know that it’s almost Waste Reduction Week (WRW) in Canada? To celebrate WRW the third week of October, this month’s “Take Action Burlington” posts are dedicated to what you can do to keep your old things out of the landfill.
Child car and booster seats
Unless you have little ones in your life that use a car seat, you probably don’t know that car seats have an expiry date. This may have you asking, “why do car seats expire?”
Transport Canada says there are several reasons:
- Frequent use and exposure to sunlight can damage and weaken plastic;
- Things spill and seats need to be cleaned so webbing, buckles, adjusters and other parts may stop working safely;
- The history or condition of the car seat or booster seat becomes hard to check. For example, was it in a crash? Was it stored in a way that caused damage to some parts?;
- Safety regulations and standards may have changed, so safer products may now be on the market; and
- If you’re not the original owner, you may miss safety recalls.
So how many car seats are we talking about? A whopping 250,000 car seats used in Ontario might end up in landfills each year! Thanks to a company called Red Propeller, you can keep your used car seat out of the landfill for a small fee.
Who is Red Propeller?
Red Propeller is a social impact recycling company that keeps unwanted recyclable material, such as child car seats, out of the landfill and employs people with physical, mental or social barriers.
What can I do?
- Visit redpropeller.ca/car-seat-recycling.
- Drop off or mail the child car or booster seat to Red Propeller,116 Industry St., Toronto.
- If you choose to mail the car seat, they will ask you to pre-pay for the cost of recycling – $5 for a booster seat or $13.25 for a child car seat.
- Print the order confirmation and include it with your boxed package.
Did you know?
You can set up an appointment to visit Red Propeller’s facility to learn about the process first hand? If interested, please visit redpropeller.ca/car-seat-recycling.
Take Action Burlington. With a little effort, we can recycle those hard to recycle items. Collectively, we can make a difference!
Take Action Burlington 