The sticky issue of disposable Scotch Tape dispensers is getting a bit greener. Now, you can send in your empty dispensers back to 3M for reuse, thanks to TerraCycle.

 

Best known for its worm-poop fertilizer, green company TerraCycle has now created a Scotch Tape Brigade — made up of groups around the country who’ve decided to collect tape dispensers and cores — for a cause. 3M will take back those tape dispensers and cores to reuse. Plus, for each dispenser or core collected, 3M will send a 2-cent donation to a charity of the collecting group’s choice.

 

TerraCycle is already well-known for its Energy Bar and Juice Pouch brigades, which collect wrappers to be upcycled into new products. But the Scotch Tape Brigade's the first one that promotes simple reuse — a move that’s even greener than recycling products.

 

Want to make sure your tape dispenser gets reused? Then you’ll first need to either find a brigade near you — which isn’t easy to do since the brigades aren’t searchable on TerraCycle’s site — or create a brigade yourself, your local school or other organization you’re involved with.

 

Of course, if you’re like me, you’re likely wondering why people don’t just get a reusable tape dispenser and simply get cheaper refill rolls for it — thereby saving money and the planet — instead of buying disposable tape dispensers and creating a Scotch Tape Brigade, after which the dispensers will need to get shipped back to 3M before getting shipped back to stores, burning carbon all the way….

 

That said, even the refills have those plastic cores — and reusing those will still be greener than recycling them. Does your organization amass enough Scotch Tape cores to make starting a brigade team worthwhile?