Staples wants to help you clean out your messy desk drawers — here’s why

While decluttering your home can keep your living space clean, it’s sometimes hard to toss unused items. Luckily, recycling programs exist to help you clean out your house and ease your conscience.

The Crayon Initiative, a non-profit organization that recycles crayons and remanufactures them for art programs at children’s hospitals, has teamed up with Staples to help you dispose of unwanted items while helping others.

How does The Crayon Initiative work?

The Crayon Initiative partners with a variety of groups to get writing utensils into the hands of kids who can use them. Partnering with Staples is The Crayon Initiative’s latest move to expand its reach nationwide.

The group also works with schools, Girl and Boy Scout troops, community organizations, and restaurants to collect crayons for children’s hospitals. They have already provided 723,400 packs of crayons to over 250 hospital partners.

With its partnership with Staples, donating crayons to The Crayon Initiative has never been easier. All you have to do is gather your unused and unwanted crayons and drop them off at any Staples retail store.

Staples will then send the crayons to The Crayon Initiative, where they will be melted down and remanufactured for art programs at children’s hospitals.

Why should I recycle crayons?

Recycling unused crayons can help declutter your home, prevent waste, and benefit sick children in hospitals across the country.

It’s easy for unused items to build up in your home, and removing extra stuff can help you stay organized. Ditching the old crayons in the back of your drawer will help make room for other everyday essentials.

This program also prevents waste and prolongs crayons’ lifespans. Instead of wasting away in a landfill, crayons recycled by the initiative will continue to help kids express their creativity.

Additionally, children who had access to art supplies at children’s hospitals had lower stress levels than kids who did not. Contributing to the initiative will help art programs that encourage hospitalized children to relax and recover.

Are there similar programs to The Crayon Initiative? 

Staples’ partnership with The Crayon Initiative is one of many recycling services the store has engaged with in recent years.

You can also bring most technology, ink and toner cartridges, and batteries to any Staples store across the U.S. to properly dispose of them.

These programs have been highly successful in reducing waste. Since 2012, over 165 million pounds of technology have been recycled at Staples’ stores.

Staples even offers cashback rewards for recycling items in its stores, proving that recycling isn’t just good for the planet but for your wallet, too.

Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.