Calgary disposal answer
Crayons and pens: black cart
Black cart — Garbage
Broken or worn-down crayons and pencils go in the black cart. Pens and markers can be recycled at participating Staples stores or put in the black cart.
How to prepare it
- Pass usable crayons, pencils and pencil crayons to family or friends, list them online, or ask a local charity whether it accepts them before dropping off.
- Bring any brand of pen, marker, highlighter, Sharpie or mechanical pencil to a participating Staples location; confirm the store takes them before you go.
- Empty pencil sharpener shavings into the green cart, since the City accepts them as compost.
- Keep crayons, pens and markers out of the blue cart; they are products, not packaging, even when made of plastic.
Good to know
The City's answer depends on whether the item still works: usable supplies should be reused or donated, and only unusable ones become garbage. Pens and markers have an extra option because participating Staples stores collect all brands for recycling. Crayons are wax, and the City sends unusable wax products to the black cart rather than the green cart.
Similar items
When is your black cart pickup?
Find the next black cart date for your exact Calgary address.
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