What To Do With Old Car Seats

How Can You Travel Without Car Seats

If you can find a destination where you can get aroundwithout having to rent a car, you can avoid the hassle of traveling with carseats.

Do these places exist? They certainly do! Weve spent a lotof time researching and coming up with places we can travel without needing carseats. We love the hassle of not traveling with them!

Here are the questions you need to ask when looking for destinations where you wont need to travel with a car seat:

We took our first trip to Barcelona with a baby . We had specifically chosen Barcelona because we knew wed be able to easily get from the Barcelona El Prat airport to our hotel using public transportation and during our stay we could get around by walking.

National Car Seat Recycling & Donation

• Target& Walmart holds yearly events where you can trade-in your old, used, or even broken car seat. At the time of writing this, the 2020 event for target has passed in September and Walmart canceled their event due to pandemic. This might not be the perfect solution as you will have to wait for the next event but its worth it considering there are not a lot of options available.
• If you own a Clek car seat you can recycle it for around $40. However, they will give you a discount code of the same amount which can be used on their website towards a future purchase.
• Its always a good idea to contact your local department of public works. They might know any place that recycles car seats in or around your place.
• TerraCycle is a social enterprise that works to recycle waste and save it from going to landfill. They participate in the Target trade-in event as has a program of their own. Through Baby Gear Zero Waste Box, you can recycle all kinds of baby accessories, including car seats. This option, however, is not free.
• Car Seat Recycling is a sustainability company that specialized in developing large scale solutions for asset liquidations and hard to recycle items. They have recycled over 500,200 car seats across the U.S so far. For $29.99 you can recycle an infant seat or a convertible seat.
• Vietnam Veterans of America works towards the welfare of veterans and their families. They accept almost every household item. to see they will accept your used car seat.

The Integrity Of The Seat

Be sure to check the integrity of your child’s car seat before donating.

Determine if it has any tears or cracks and verify that it has never been in a major accident. While most seats can be reused after a minor fender bender, the NHTSA recommends disposing of your car seat if it has been involved in a collision where airbags have deployed, the seat or the nearest door were damaged, personal injuries were sustained, or the vehicle required towing.

Bottom line, by recycling, donating, or trading in your old car seats, you help to keep roughly 180 million pounds of valuable material out of landfills each year. While finding sustainable ways to dispose of your old car seat may take a bit of extra effort, it’s definitely worth it.

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The Proper Way To Dispose Of Trash

The seat can be thrown away with the trash if it cannot be recycled, donated, or traded in. To do so, however, you must follow a few guidelines. The guidelines are similar to those for recycling and are there to ensure the waste can be disposed of efficiently:

• Foam and padding should be removed.
• Straps should be cut off.
• The seat should be stripped of all metal pieces.
• The seat should be marked. The bare plastic seat should be clearly marked UNSAFE or EXPIRED so that it cannot be reused. Your garbage can then be thrown out with the rest.

Car Seat Recycling & Donation In Connecticut

• In Connecticut, every municipality has a local recycling contact. Some towns have an employee whose primary responsibility is to manage the local recycling program others designate a public official or town commission member to fulfill this role. You can ask your local contact to see if there is any car seat recycling place in your area.
• The Weston Volunteer Fire Department accepts used special needs car seats as donations.

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Child Car Seats: Why Is It So Hard To Recycle Them

For Mel Kirkpatrick, 25 years of storing her children’s old car seats is a small price to pay for disposing of them responsibly.

“We recycle absolutely everything”, the retired midwife says. “I steadfastly refuse to put our children’s car seats into landfill.”

After moving into a smaller home in Northamptonshire six years ago, Mel, 63, and her husband got rid of unwanted possessions, but struggled to shift their five child car seats.

“I’ve held onto for 25 years, it’s no hardship for me to hang onto them for if they’re going to be recycled properly.”

Mrs Kirkpatrick is one of a number of parents who have struggled to recycle their old child car seats.

The law requires children to use an EU-approved car seat until they are 12 years old or 135cm tall, whichever comes first, meaning UK families could go through at least two or three different-sized seats.

But what happens to the car seats when they are no longer needed and how can they be disposed of sustainably?

• New child seat rules ‘confuse parents’

One Parents Trash Is Another Parents Treasure

Old car seats might be more difficult to get rid of than an old pair of trainers or a piece of cardboard, but if youre willing to do a little research, there are plenty of options.

Instead of letting your old car seats gather dust in the attic and add to the existing junk cluttering up your home, you could use them as a force for good in the world.

Whether you decide to use your old car seat to help out a family member or contribute to saving the environment, youll be doing a good deed. And it can be as easy as taking a quick trip to your nearest supermarket!

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Can I Donate My Old Baby Car Seat

Donate your car seat!, as practice shows, is easier said than done.

The reality is: many places where you could donate other household stuff dont accept baby gear and accessories such as cribs, bassinets, high chairs, car seats, and so on, due to safety and liability reasons.

In Canada, sometimes a local car seat technician might like the seat to use for training purposes. These guys in Canada usually have exemptions to use seats for this purpose from Health Canada. Here is where you can find a local car seat technician in Canada.

Other than these few exceptions, you cant really donate an old baby car seat. This is why you should look at trade-in programs, private reselling, and recycling establishments for a solution on what to do with an old car seat.

Protocols For Proper Recycling

It is possible to recycle the old car seat yourself rather than throw it in the trash. To find out if you can recycle plastic from old car seats, contact your local recycling center. The following steps should be taken if they do:

Your local recycling center might accept car seats if you ask them how they prefer to receive them. Here is a list of car seat acceptance centers.

Consult the recycling centers guidelines on recycling car seats. Others may want the frame broken down first, while others may just want the naked frame.

Remove any extras from the car seat, including fabric, padding, and straps. The harness straps should also be cut out of the seat by using scissors. Its probably not going to be possible to recycle these parts, so they can be disposed of in the trash.

The first thing you need to do is remove all metal pieces. You will probably need a screwdriver for this. To ensure the car seat is metal-free, remove as much metal as you can. Recycling centers will only require you to do this if they require it. Depending on the center, this part may be handled by them.

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Keeping Child Car Seats Out Of The Landfill

Did you know that in BC an estimated 85,000 – 100,000 child car seats end up in the landfill each year?

From July 5-31, 2021, BCAA partnered with social enterprise, ATMO Recycling, to collect used and expired child car seats at our BCAA Auto Service Centre in Kelowna. We’re excited to share that over 600 child car seats were kept out of the landfill, giving a second life to their materials.

Plus, the pilot program donated $5 for every child car seat collected, giving the local chapter of Mamas for Mamas over $3,000 to help support mothers and caregivers with programs and resources.

With our pilot now completed, we want to say a big thank you to everyone who participated and helped us keep car seats out of the landfill.

Wondering how to recycle a child car seat? Learn more about .

What Should I Do With My Old Car Seat

• Can I recycle my old car seat?

Whether your growing child is ready to move on to the next size up of car seat, or youve encountered issues with their car seat that means you cant use it, working out what to do with a large piece of complicated moulded plastic can leave many parents scratching their heads.

In February 2022 we surveyed 2,004 parents with a child aged up to five years. We asked those who owned a car seat what they did with it when they no longer needed it.

• 29% said they kept it in storage
• 16% said they sold it via an online marketplace
• 15% lent or gifted it to someone else
• 10% donated to charity
• 8% gave it away through a community reuse scheme
• 7% sold it to friends or family
• 7% took it to the recycling centre
• 7% disposed of it in a rubbish tip

Read on for our advice on what you can do with old car seats, including making use of your warranty, handling car seats that have been in a vehicle crash, understanding the life span of a car seat, and whether you should chuck or recycle your old seat.

Looking for your next car seat? Read our car seat reviews

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Pass It On To Family Or Friends

The easiest way to get rid of an old car seat is to pass it on to family or friends. If you know someone who has been struggling to cover the costs associated with raising a young family, theyre sure to appreciate the gesture!

Most importantly, they know you well enough to trust that youve taken proper precautions to check the seat is safe for use.

Although you could also sell the car seat by listing it on an online marketplace or having a yard sale, this is generally frowned upon for safety reasons. You might know that the car seat is within its expiration date, but the person who receives it is taking you on your word.

Not all resellers take the proper precautions , so this practice encourages unsafe behavior. There are also plenty of ways it can go wrong. For instance, a reseller could get the expiry date mixed up or sell a car seat that was involved in a car accident without realizing that its a problem.

Fortunately, even if you dont have any loved ones you can pass your car seat on to, there are other ways to get rid of it.

If It’s Been Recalled

You can determine if your car seat has been recalled by visiting the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website and entering the brand name and model of your car seat. Recalled seats are deemed to be unsafe by the NHTSA. A recalled car seat should be immediately disposed of and should not be donated, sold, or passed down under any circumstances.

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Brands And Manufacturers Now Offer Recycling Programs

Surprisingly, the World leadership for car seat recycling comes from Australia, where they have recently made car seat manufacturers pledge to create wider recycling programs. Britax, Infasecure, and Dorel sell 80% of car seats in Australia and are fully on-board with the initiative. Hopefully, we should see their programs extended to Canada and the USA.

The good news is that even today some car seat manufacturers already offer recycling programs. For example, if you own a Clek Brand car seat you can recycle it for a small fee of about $40.

Before You Do Anything Make Sure Its Still Safe For Use

Your car seat must be fully operational for reuse. Here is a car seat safety checklist to know if you qualify for trading or donation:

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Car Seat Recycling & Donation In Iowa

• The Families Helping Families of Iowa Clothing Closet is a free resource for foster families to find clothing, shoes, and supplies for infants, children, and teens in foster care, relative placement, or other approved placement, and those adopted from foster care. According to their website, they accept baby gear that is not expired. Please contact them to see if they will accept your used car seat.
• Animal Lifeline Thrift Shop: Drop items off at Southwest Ninth Street and Park Avenue in Des Moines, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday. For furniture or other large items, call first at 515-288-7197. Proceeds from the sale of donated items support Animal Lifeline, a special-needs no-kill animal shelter.
• Agape Pregnancy Center offers education and resources to people in need and helps them make informed decisions. Their wish list includes new car seats if you have a car seat that hasnt been used or you would like to donate a new car seat.
• The residents of the City of Winfield can recycle their car seats. The City of Winfield contracts with Adams Sanitary Disposal Inc. for solid waste collection and Des Moines County Regional Solid Waste Commission for recycling collection.

Trade Your Baby Car Seat At A Mother

If you are having a cleanout, you may find that you have several old items that were once used for and by your newborn.

If those items are too old and frail to be reused or passed on, we have a perfect solution for you.

Rather than just leaving it out for the garbage man, we urge you to do a little research and see if a local mother-and-baby store has a trade-in day.

These occur periodically, and the stores will accept all baby gear regardless of their condition or age.

Even if you have already had a car accident and your baby seat is no longer safe to use, they will still accept it.

Instead of purchasing your old or damaged item, they will often offer a discount to use in-store, which is usually around 20 percent.

If you have grown children, you can even pass on this discount to a friend or family member.

These stores always adhere to strict safety requirements and will never resell the old equipment that was traded in.

Instead, they will ensure that everything is recycled in the most ethical and sustainable way possible.

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