If you are planning to do some home flooring renovations consider recycling your old carpet instead of just discarding it. Of course you can alway try and use your old carpet in another home improvement project or hobby project (new doormat, cat tree, diy soundproofing, etc) but, if you don't have the opportunity, consider dropping it of at a carpet recycling depot. A carpet recycling facility specializes in reusing old carpet and diverting it from the landfills. The carpet is processed into a resource that can be made into a wide range of products ranging from Geohay (geohay.com) to Carpet Cushions (lafiber.com) to new carpet. According to C.A.R.E. (Carpet America Recovery Effort) every 1,000 sq/ft of carpet that is recycled can help save 48 gallons of oil and 1.110.000 BTU of energy and divert 500 lbs from landfills.

If you live in the US you can find a list of Carpet Reclamation Partners here: http://www.carpetrecovery.org/waste.php

This Article was written by Thomas Korthuis of Eco Tips For Life.