How to properly recycle everyday items

So everyone recycles their bottles, cans and cardboard/paper right? Right?! Well what about items that people may not know how to recycle? I know how busy life is and I know people don't have the time to go out and find where to recycle the items we use daily but that dont fit in the bottle/can/paper categories.( Insert Might Mouse music....."Here I come to save the dayyyyy!") You may have to make a phone call or click the mouse but I will give you a starting point to work with.Get your pen and paper ready.

• Batteries : My local Staples store accepts them, free of charge, as do some other retail stores in my area.Also check out ehso.com.They will show you places in your area where you can drop off batteries.
• Foam peanuts : Some peanuts are now made from vegetable starches! To see if yours are place them under running water and see if the melt.If they do then you have biodegradable and non toxic peanuts and the company that sent them too you kick ass! If not then you have the old evil kind.Call 'The peanut hotline' toll free at 1-800-828-2214 and they will let you know what businesses in your area accept them and reuse them.
• VHS tapes: Most people now buy DVD's and and moving on to blu-rays.To help keep VHS tapes out of the landfills send them to a business called Alternative Community Training.They are a nonprofit company that provides jobs for people with disabilities.They either erase the tapes, resell the ones in good condition or recycle the plastic from the rest.They have recycled more then 1 million tapes so far! Simply mail the tapes to them ( using USPS media mail makes it pretty cheap)

• ACT 2200 Burlington Columbia, MO 65202
  
  
  
• Paint: Donate!! There are tons of places in your area that will take your paint.Habitat for Humanity is always in need of..well anything you can donate.Check out habitat.org to find a habitat in your area.Or you can go to earth911.com and find out where to recycle it in your zip code.
• CD's and DVD's: You can mail discs to 'Back thru the future' a woman-owned ( whoo hoo) electronics recycling and data destruction company.They also let you know about recycling your hard drives.

I am going to look into this some more and if I come up with any others I will share them.If you have something that you want to recycle, but dont know how to, leave me a comment and I will do the hunt for you.Don't forget about precycling and save yourself some of the hassle of figuring out where to send items when your done.