What Do You Do with Older, Expired Car Seats?

Legacy Health Systems runs a recycle program several times a year. They recycle every part they can like the plastic and metal, everything but the cover/foam.

HTH
E.

EDITED: After reading some of the responses about leaving at a curb or dumpster for "less fortunate" PLEASE DON'T DO THAT. If you wouldn't put your own child in it why would you put other peoples children in danger? If you find that you have to dispose of it with garbage, cut straps, remove covers, and break in at least 2 pieces with hammer so that it cannot be used again.

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I have heard that Garten services will at least take the plastic portion of the carseat to recycle. You have to remove all the metal, and fabric pieces.

I have also heard that Babies R Us has a resource list of the local areas that do carseat recycling. I know that Legacy Health Systems also recently were doing a drive for expired and damaged carseats.

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I was having this same problem-- I have 2 older seats to get rid of. I heard that they have drop off days at Legacy Emmanual hospital in Portland. I looked up the info and found an email address. When I wrote to the guy, he told me that he would take car seats ANYTIME at 21st and Pettygrove (1331 NW 21st avenue)in Portland. The guys name is Tom Badrick, and here is his email if you want to check for yourself: ____@____.com
I haven't actually taken mine yet, but will next time I head to Portland. They also recycle a lot of other stuff. I am taking an old metal bed frame as well.
Kudos to you for not just throwing it in the trash!

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i'm interested in this also. looking to hear your responses.

If you are a AAA member call them, they may even offer you a discount on a new one. You car insurance company may also be able to help you. I know that when my kids were small that insurance companies offered a lot of info on car seats, how to use them, and how to purchase them. They also offered discounts on the purchase of an approved car seat that would work with your car. Car dealers may also be able to help you.
I know they would prefer that the old and maybe damaged carseats were no longer used. You never know what people would take from the garbage or dump and use.

In our area we have car seat safety checks done at our local GM dealership. They will take the old car seats and use them for demonstration/education purposes. This is how we have disposed of our old car seat. I hope that this helps.

i put mine out on the curb on the day before trash day w/ cans....it disappeared. I figure some poor family that could not afford a car seat at all snagged it. I work in a very low income school district and see families all the time that don't have car seats b/c i imagine they can't afford it. I figure it's better to have a car seat with plastic that is a little old than have baby in arms like i so often see.

I have recently talked to our waste management on a similar question. We had two car seats and a stroller that were damaged in a car accident. My husband said he wanted to take them home and strip them to recycle them...turns out you can't do that. Thanks hubby!! Anyway all you can do is throw it in the trash!

Please I hope you do take the steps to get rid of it...I cannot stress how important safe/ non expired car seats are. I don't know what would have happened to our daughter in the accident we just had if she hadn't been in a safely installed car seat in new/great condition. To me $100-300 is worth the money if it means saving a child's life! That being said I could donate a car seat that was expired to put another child at risk.

As far as getting the much needed new seat... I would google Car seat ratings and go to the NHTSA site for their review on safety. We went with one of the top rated Alpha Omega Elite seats for our kids and we were involved in a 40 mph accident that I was injured in but my daughter had no injuries. It is worth researching. Both of our kids are now in the highly rated Safety 1st summit. Hard to find but is a great seat!

That is a good question. When you find out will you let me know i have a seat I need to get rid of also.

Cut the straps, throw it away! Do not let another baby use it, Its expired and needs to be disposed of. Unfortunatly i do not know of a recycle progrma for them.

I know this is a tough one! One friend of mine told me she will go to a neighborhood that is low income and leave it by a dumpster along with other baby stuff. She sees it picked up before she gets back in the car. She figures that it may be "expired" but it probably gets a child in a car seat that may not have otherwise had one, and keeps it out of the landfill...

Toss it and get the best one on the market. Babies are very precious and car seats do prevent injury and loss of life for them.