I have been throwing used ink cartridges in a small bag for literally years now. I keep meaning to find a way to recycle them, and from time to time I do, but the bag has always been out of the way, stashed in my office closet, and quickly gets forgotten about until I have another one to add to the stash. Recently, I've been doing a lot of spring cleaning, donating those unwanted things that are in good shape, and trashing those which are, well, trash.

In my research to figure out what to do with those ink cartridges, I quickly came across a program which Staples is running. The deal seems pretty straightforward - bring up to 10 used ink cartridges in a month, and receive $3 per cartridge in rewards money. I was just hoping to find somewhere to drop the cartridges off without simply tossing them in the trash, but wait, now I can get paid for it too? Sign me up! To take advantage of this offer, I needed to sign up with their Staples Rewards program, but to my relief, it's just like those cards I use in the grocery store, as opposed to a credit card which I wouldn't of signed up for. The form was really short, and they let me print a card right from the Web site (I don't know if I'll be getting a sturdier, plastic one in the mail as well, or not). According to their Web site, rewards are issues 4-6 weeks after the end of the month, so it'll be awhile before I get my savings, but in the mean time, at least I'm rid of these cartridges!