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By CHRIS BOSAK

cbosak@thestamfordtimes.com


NORWALK -- Those worn-down, broken, or otherwise unused crayons that end up in the garbage can -- and ultimately the landfill -- are petroleum-based, and therefore, take decades to biodegrade.

The folks at Educational Warehouse now offer a more earth-friendly alternative. The company, which has a location at 509 Westport Ave. in Norwalk, recently initiated its crayon recycling program, which encourages children, parents and teachers to bring in their crayon nubs and insert them into the recycling box.

Once the box is filled, the Educational Warehouse sends the old crayons to the National Crayon Recycling Program to be recycled into new ones. The new crayons are sent back to Educational Warehouse and then donated.

In conjunction with the effort, Educational Warehouse will donate $5 for every pound of crayons collected each month to a nonprofit organization. Local nonprofits may submit their name for donation consideration at any Educational Warehouse. In addition to Norwalk, there are Educational Warehouse locations in Spring Valley, N.Y., White Plains, N.Y., Carle Place, N.Y., Randolph, N.J., Wayne, N.J., and Danbury. All locations have instituted crayon recycling programs.

Easton King, president and CEO of Educational Warehouse, said the idea came from teachers who shop at his stores and said there was nothing to do with old crayons.

"Teachers said their crayons just pile up and pile up," King said. "We found out there was a way to recycle them. Wax is not biodegradable so it just sits there forever."

As another customer incentive, those who bring in crayons for recycling get to submit a guess as to how much the filled box will weigh. The customer who makes the most accurate guess wins a gift card to Educational Warehouse.

Lindsay Dupee, assistant manager at the Norwalk Educational Warehouse, decorated the crayon recycling station at the store.

"I think it's great. I never knew a crayon would be in the landfill forever," she said. "A lot of people don't think about the impact simple things have on the environment."

While the program has gotten off to a slow start, King expects it to be very popular, especially among teachers.

"As soon as a handful of teachers know about it, the bins will fill up quickly," he said. "Teachers have boxes and boxes of crayons and many of the crayons are worn down to nubs."

The crayon recycling program is part of a broader green initiative for Educational Warehouse. It is also offering more earth friendly products.

"It's definitely something we believe in. The green initiative is new to us this year," King said. "We're doing our best to source out and find things that are earth friendly and use vendors that have a commitment to environmental conscience."

On the Web: http://www.educationalwarehouse.com

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