The new trend is to go “Green”. We’ve all heard the term, and some even have vowed to “Go Green!” But is recycling used dildos going too far? Could you recycle your used sex toys? I know I thought it sounded pretty weird when I first ran across it. After reading the reasoning behind the idea, I thought it sounded like something I could definitely do to help better the environment.
Unfortunately, we can’t keep our favorite rabbits or dildos forever. So there are a few people who have come up with great solutions to get rid of those favored toys! There are multiple websites offering to recycle your worn-out sex toys. A simple Google search will turn up many options. But why recycle the sex toys? Some of the websites offer incentives, such as gift cards or credits (Most that offer compensation seem pretty sketchy to me! They don’t have very well built websites, or no storefront.). Some also sell “repurposed” sex toys in return. The materials from toys that have been sent in is broken down, washed, and reused! For some people, this may be a bit too much “Green-ness”, but it’s a great way to keep unsafe materials out of our landfills.
Other than the self-serving reasons, though, why should one actually recycle their vibrator? Our dildos, vibrators, and anal toys all contain ingredients that can contaminate ground water, or take hundreds of years to finally break down into eco-friendly materials. Plastic, for example, is said to take up to 500 years to decompose! That’s a really long time! Our great-great grandkids could stumble across our old used sex toys!
Phthalates are another very dangerous ingredient in most sex toys. It is known to cause severe issues in hormone levels, resulting in adverse genital development, as well as adult infertility problems and possibly cancer. If Phthalates are leaked into ground water (from landfills), it is unfilterable. This means that the more products with Phthalates as ingredients that end up in landfills, the more that ends up in our drinking water.
We can now buy “Green” sex toys, such as those made from wood or ceramic. Yet recycling these toys takes “Going Green” to a whole new level. You can now have a completely eco-friendly sex life!
Now I’m not saying you should just throw the anal beads in the recycling bin, then toss it on your curb. But there are many different options you can use. If the toy is plastic, it can be stripped of batteries, motor, and any other non-plastic components, and can be put in the plastic recycling bin. As for other materials, such as silicone or jelly, there are many options. Just as suggested before, a simple Googling of “Recycle Sex Toys” should turn up a few results.
Recycling any product is a good thing. Sex toys can be a difficult area to figure out when considering disposal. But now we have the option to “Go Green” with our sex toys, and we don’t just have to stick to wooden toys! Recycling those used up toys is a great alternative to tossing them in the garbage to sit in a landfill for the next five centuries.
buzzvibe
I tear mine up, separating the plastic from the electrical components, and also so that they’re not blatantly recognizable as sex toys. I then recycle as many of the parts as possible.
True Pleasures
I’ve participated in a couple recycle programs, but haven’t had the need to lately. I’m more careful about what toys I request for review, so there aren’t as many that can’t just be sterilized and traded through ToySwap.
storm elliott
can anyone suggest a site that gives gift cards?
Oh, and I like the idea of choosing materials that can be sterilized for swapping.
I have one rechargeable. I love it! and it’s silicone
True Pleasures
Scarlet Girl offers gift cards, but their recycling program states in the legal section that it’s only for clients of Scarlet Girl.
Lovehoney will reward you with points, but you have to send your toys all the way to the UK, which will probably either leave you breaking even, with less than you started with, or with points to spend, depending on how far you have to ship your old toys.
Also, I’ve done a recent Google search on “sex toy recycling” and very few valid programs show up. Most of the results are old, from 2010-further in the past. One of the sites I looked up, RecycleMySexToy.com, doesn’t exist anymore.
SexToyRecycling.com, one of the first search results in Google that actually shows up 3 times, may look like a good program, but it’s dead. It’s been dead for years, so don’t let it fool you. Their “About Us” page still says the same thing from at least 2 years ago, “Look for our new online store and expanded selection of recycled products, coming soon!”, and they’ve never responded when I’ve submitted through their contact form to receive a Tyvek bag that they want the toys sent in. Either it’s dead, or it’s a way for someone to gain traffic somehow.
Something needs to be done about sex toy recycling. There isn’t enough programs out there that are still alive and open to people. I’m not a client of Scarlet Girl, and I don’t really want to spend the money to ship my toys overseas to be recycled. I would dearly love to see EdenFantasys start up a program. Maybe it could even be tied into the EdenPoints system. I know it’s not really philanthropy, but it is giving back to the community. So, maybe it could be an Eden Gives Back event?
At this point, unless EF starts up a program, there’s not much else that can be done. Or, at least, that’s what I’ve found. EF has been awesome about helping out their community, so I assume that they’ve been thinking about a program, and it’s probably only a matter of time. Until then, I’ll just probably hold onto my old toys and wait for a decent program. Come on, EF! I’m counting on you!