Rarely, will you find a home or office that doesn't use a 3 ring binder of some sort for something. I was doing a quick inventory at my house, and learned that my wife and I have 23 between the two of us. Let's face it, these types of binders are one of the most versatile storage products on the market today. However, once the binder becomes damaged, broken, or old, most people simply throw them out with the trash. 
That's not really a good idea and here's why: 90% of all binders that are currently being sold in the United States feature a cover that is either made of vinyl or PVC. Unfortunately, PVC/Vinyl is not biodegradable and contains a number of other toxic stabilizing chemicals like lead and cadmium that are equally unhealthy for the environment. The EPA estimates that around 10 million pounds of discarded vinyl binders hit US landfills every year. With a relatively long carbon half life, those discarded binders aren't going anywhere fast.
So the big question is: what should you do with those binders when that time comes?
For starters, instead of trying to dispose of them in an environmentally safe way, consider trying to re-use them. Here are a couple of interesting and innovative approaches for used binders that I saw while searching online, which I found here:
- Scrapbooking or photo storage - My wife buys the sheets of plastic inserts with pockets and uses them as inexpensive scrapbooks (which explains why we have so many).
- Keyring - You can remove the metal strip containing the O or D rings, and then mount it on a wall. This makes an amazing keyholder or keyring for spare keys. We have one in our kitchen and use it for all of our spare/extra keys.
- Baby/child Books - This suggestion is kind of related to the scrapbooking idea, but it works. My wife takes these old damaged binders, decorates them herself (think scrapbooking clubs), and then gives them out as handmade baby books. She also uses them to keep any and all of the school work, pictures or drawings that my 6 year old nephew does for us.
- Children's Coloring Book - I got this idea from my sister-in-law as she's got twin toddler girls. She takes any old binders, and let's her girls draw or decorate the binder anyway they want to. They she fills each one with used paper from her printer (or a coloring book), and let's the girls use them as portable drawing tables on trips.
- Recipe Books - My wife stores every recipe she comes across or is given in one of 4 old binders that have been re-purposed for that use.
- Financial data - We reuse old 3 ring binders to store tax data. Each year gets it's own binder and all the financial and tax information for that year is stored in that binder.
In the event that you can't find a way to re-use them (which is doubtful), consider option #2: Donating.
You are probably wondering who in the world would accept a donation of used or broken binders? Actually you might be surprised.
- Schools - Both public and private schools may consider taking some donated 3 ring binders as long as the rings still work.
- Charity organizations - Contact your local charity organizations and see if they might have a need for any used binders. Some of these groups will even come to you for pick-up.
Finally, if the first two options don't seem appealing, you can always try the recycling route. While vinyl is technically considered a recyclable material, the costs associated with the recycling process make it cost-prohibitive to do. If you want to research possible recycling centers near you who might take a vinyl 3 ring binder, try Earth911. The only other place I'm aware that has a legitimate and effective recycling program for binders is the American Thermoplastic Company, who owns www.binder.com.
The easiest way to avoid this problem in the future is to buy recyclable binders like those manufactured by Naked Binders.com.
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