All car seats are stamped with an expiration date, but what’s a family to do with old, expired car seats? We have three sitting in our garage, and our regular recycling program won’t take them — even if I strip them down to the plastic. I hate to think of dumping them into the landfill because it seems so wasteful. Any suggestions?
Melanie
St. Albert, Alberta
I must admit this question initially had me stumped. I’d never heard of anyone recycling a child’s car seat before. And after a few inquiries I now understand why. It’s near impossible.
The City of Edmonton’s “Wasteman” informed me that child seats aren’t recyclable because they contain too many types of materials – plastic, metal and cloth. However, one lead uncovered a recycler in Alberta called Kidseat Recyclers that accepts expired car seats. That’s the good news. The bad news (for you) is that they’re in Calgary. I’d suggest getting in touch with Kidseat Recyclers to find out if they do collections outside Calgary, or if they know of any businesses planning to expand this service to the Edmonton area.
Calgary residents can visit 
Lindsay Coulter gives you the straight goods on living green. Send your questions to queenofgreen@metronews.ca. For more great tips, visit The David Suzuki Foundation at davidsuzuki.org.
