The Finishing Touch

Recycling Blinds

At least once a week, someone emails me asking, “How do I recycle blinds?” Being the Super Sleuth that I am, I decided to take a more in-depth look at our options, because recycling can be complicated if you’re attempting to getting rid of something other than computer paper in an eco-friendly way.

My first attempt at “research” was a Wikipedia search because, as Michael Scott would say, “anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject so you know you are getting the best possible information.” He was wrong in this case; Wikipedia turned up nothing on how to recycle blinds. Not even so much as a placeholder page. Moving on.

My second attempt was a Google search. I came up empty-handed again, but was drawn to one particular link: Ecocycle.org. Upon further investigation, I learned that Ecocycle has an entire section on their website dedicated to educating people on how to recycle hard-to-recycle items. They even have a Boulder-based center for dropping off these items called CHaRM (Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials). Bad news: I found no information about how to properly recycle blinds here either.

I gave them a call and was connected with Kate, a recycling expert if there ever was one. Kate gave me a lot of helpful information:

1. Aluminum blinds – Aluminum blinds are the easiest to recycle. Recycle miniblinds and aluminum components pretty much anywhere. Call up one of your local scrap metal dealers to have these taken off your hands and make a little money while you do it.
2. Wood blinds – Though wood blinds seem perfectly recyclable, they are not. Most wood blinds are treated with a chemical sealant and various types of paint. Wood recycling is most often turned into mulch for gardens and farms. The chemicals used to treat wood blinds, while safe for the home, are not safe for vegetable-growing. Double check to see what types of chemicals have been used to treat your blinds before you drop them at your local center. If they have not been treated, they can safely be recycled.
3. PVC (fauxwood, verticals) – These are not recyclable.
4. Draperies – Most recycled textiles are turned into industrial rags. This is a great use for your old draperies, should you decide to get rid of them. Contact the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (SMART) to find out how to turn your old drapes into something useful for someone else.

While I was sad to learn that some of our most popular products cannot be safely recycled, there are plenty of other safe, smart options for getting rid of your window blinds in a responsible way.

Habitat for Humanity is always in need of home items like blinds, shades, shutters, and draperies. Find out if your city has a Habitat for Humanity ReStore, which are outlets that accept donated home goods for resale. The even-better news is that if you do donate or recycle window blinds, then take a picture or video of yourself doing so and send it to us, we’ll give you 10% off your purchase at Blinds.com. If you’re not familiar with Blinds for Clunkers, click the link for more details.

One of hundreds of customer-submitted Blinds for Clunkers photos

And, of course, if you’re trying to make a buck or two, post them on Craigslist or eBay.

If you’d like more information, shoot me an email and I’ll see what else I can dig up.

Help Blinds.com Raise $2000 for Habitat for Humanity by Becoming a Fan!

In an effort to raise funds for Houston Habitat for Humanity, we will be donating $1 for every person who becomes a fan of Blinds.com on Facebook until we reach 1000 fans. Once we reach 1000, we will match that $1000 and make it $2000! We’ll be tweeting our progress, and shouting out to some of our great fans along the way. Please do your part to assist us in this crazy fun social experiment.

We are a Houston-based business, and proud of it! It is our duty to give back to the community that has supported us from the launch of our first site in 1996, until today. Becoming a fan is easy, it’s free for you, you’ll be on the short list of people to first receive news of special contests and giveaways, and you’ll be helping a great cause. What more could you want?

Aside from this experiment, Blinds.com donates blinds and shades to the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store, a home improvement resale store where items are sold at greatly reduced prices. Donations are made multiple times a month.

We also participate in day builds, which allow volunteers to spend one day assisting in the building of homes that are already in the works. Check out pictures from a recent Blinds.com Day Build:

Blinds.com Partners with Mommy Bloggers to Promote Child Safety

Blinds.com and Amber, blogger for Miracles on Mama Street have teamed up to raise awareness for window blind safety. After a family in her community suffered the tragic loss of one of their children due to unsafe window blinds, Amber decided to take matters into her own hands. She immediately replaced all of her corded window treatments with cordless ones. She also told everyone in her network about the dangers of having out-of date blinds and shades in their homes. They also replaced all of their dangerous treatments with safe ones.

Amber realized that it still wasn’t enough, and that there were so many more people she could be reaching. She contacted us here at Blinds.com, and her cause touched our hearts.

Amber is reaching thousands of other mommy bloggers as well as parents dedicated to child safety. Please join the crusade to end senseless deaths like this by ensuring that your home is well equipped with safe window treatments, and that your neighbors’ homes are as well.

To make it financially possible for parents to replace dangerous, Blinds.com is offering 10% off our top rated and most popular product, the Blinds.com 3/8” Light Filtering Cellular Shade, when ordered with the cordless option. Simply use code “Mommy” at checkout.

To read Amber’s full account, visit her blog, Miracles on Mama Street, and support our efforts to increase awareness. Grab the button on the top left of her site, link to her post, and/or pass the 10% savings on to family and friends.  

Help us avoid heartbreak, and protect our children.

Sincerely,

Follow Amber and me on Twitter for updates and information regarding this special promotion.

Earth Day 2009! Go Green Without Spending a Penny

Today is Earth Day, and there are so many ways to love our planet and your wallet at the same time. If you can’t afford pricey solar panels on the roof of your house this year (who can?), and you're not quite ready to trade in your morning car ride for a morning bike ride to work, why not opt to make some free, easy changes? Show the Earth some love and commit to taking just a few green baby steps.

Going green does not have to be time consuming, and all-encompassing. Without making any major adjustments to your life, you can reduce your carbon footprint immediately. All you need is a little consciousness and dedication. Think of Earth Day as the first day of the rest of your green life. Commit to green habits and greener living. I surveyed the staff here at Blinds.com, and together we compiled a list of the 13 things we do that might help you too. Here’s how:

1. What to do: "Replace your dish and clothing detergent with eco-friendly brands."

Why they help: Okay, I can’t promise that the eco-friendly brands will be the exact same price, but I will promise that by making the switch, you’ll be releasing a lot less toxic, harmful chemical into our water systems. Check out this great review of eco-friendly detergents to help you pick the best one for you.

2. What to do: "Reuse your water bottles."

Blinds.com Fundraiser for Hurricane IKE

Blinds.com, in conjunction with the Houston Food Bank, is joining the challenge to provide 500,000 pounds of food per day to those affected by Hurricane Ike.

How can you help?
Support the cause by making a purchase and applying coupon code IKE and 50% of the profit from your purchase will be donated to the Houston Food Bank until October 17th.
Visit Blinds.com for details, learn about volunteer opportunities or make a direct donation.

The storm made landfall on the Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Island on Friday, September 12, leaving a trail of devastation that all Blinds.com employees are still feeling weeks later. Blinds.com employees took on the task, because they know first-hand what it feels like to be without power, water, and life’s conveniences after this storm.  However, they are grateful to still have the necessities and know many others have not fared so well.

In looking for an opportunity to support the community after the hurricane Blinds.com sought an opportunity to provide emergency assistance directly to those displaced by the storm.  We were impressed with the Houston Food Bank’s goal to provide half a million pounds of food a day to the burgeoning numbers of hungry, as well as their ability to feed an adult, child or senior citizen on just one dollar a day.   But we knew that with empty grocery stores and tons of food spoiled due to power outages they would need lots of assistance. 
Blinds.com has a history of charitable initiatives including work with Make a Wish and igive as well as employee volunteer projects like Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and Habitat for Humanity.  From Friday, October 3 until Friday, October 17th Blinds.com will donate 50% of all profits to the Houston Food Bank.  "We have wonderful customers around the country who want to help. Many of them participate in online charities like iGive.com, which we participate in as well. This is another outlet for them to do what they can," said Blinds.com CEO, Jay Steinfeld.