Car Seat Trade-In April 2022

April 18-30, 2022 is this spring’s Target Car Seat Trade-in event!

Target Guests who trade in their old car seats will receive a 20 % off coupon on a new car seat, stroller or select baby gear. More below, but first…

If your child has aged out of car seats, I encourage you to offer your old items on hand for recycling in your local Buy Nothing Facebook group or online group of your choice to help someone else get a coupon. Please try to help to keep these out of the landfill. I saw car seats out during our last bulk collection. Leaving these out for bulk collection can be dangerous (see below) if the owner doesn’t write “expired/trash” on them, someone picks them up and can’t read English, or someone is so desperate they take them anyway. The Texas Department of State Health Services provides free car seats through it’s Safe Riders program. Several of our local neighborhood centers also offer free car seats. Dell Children’s Hospital has listed community partners, like Safe Riders, that also offer free car seats and car seat installation assistance.

Image from the winter 2021 bulk collection in my neighborhood.

NOTE: It looks like there is a new process this year for Target; you’ll need to be a ◎circle member to participate. Check out Target’s website for quick help on getting signed up.

Car seat trade-in events are not officially on a recurring schedule. Target tends to host these in April and September.

  • April is Earth Month (it includes Earth Day)
  • September is Baby Safety Month

Target has recycled more than 25.4 million pounds of materials, and counting through its trade-in program.  

Safety Reminder

Please check your current car seat(s) or any donated car seats or boosters, etc. for expiration dates. Car seats have expiration dates for your protection. The plastic degrades over time and can be a potential safety risk. The date of expiration or manufacture is usually on a sticker on the base of the item.

Where to Look for the Car Seat Expiration Date

“Some manufacturers have a specific expiration date on the seat,” Dr. Hoffman says. Major brands like Graco and Britax are known to display that information.

But if you don’t see a date listed, you can assume that the expiration date is 6 years from the date of manufacture, Dr. Hoffman advises. [Do check with your manufacturer. If you can’t find it on the seat, try their website or call them. If it’s not easy to locate, definitely encourage them to do better and make it easy on parents and caregivers.]

https://www.parents.com/baby/gear/car-seats/car-seats-expire-heres-why/

You’ll also want to replace your car seat if it’s been in a wreck. I’ve been sharing about the Target Trade-in event with my neighbors since 2019. It was great to see an article in this month’s Live Grow Play Austin. Their article has helpful data on expiration, replacements, ages and upgrades. Please share this concept with as many people as you can. It’s a blessing for parents and family; a safety issue: I had no idea car seats expired until I researched for my first article on this topic, and it is a wonderful way to keep very large, recyclable items out of the landfill, they just take a little work to take them apart for processing.

If you do want to recycle these (garage is packed, you’re moving asap, etc.) please try to take them apart if you can for the different stations at the Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center (an appointment is still required at this point). If disassembly is hard, you’re time-strapped, etc., then please put it in the Hard Plastics station. When choosing a station between Hard Plastic and Scrap Metal, go with the majority material. Most of a car seat is a plastic frame, with polyester (plastic) fabric, polyester straps, and a little bit of metal hardware. The contractor for hard plastics will separate and sort the items further for recycle processing, it just is more effective if done up front by the donor.

The featured image car seat is a Graco Extend2Fit Convertible Car Seat in Gotham. Its footrest extends up to four different lengths for my tall little guy.

#carseat #tradein #target @target #kids #recycle #atxrecycles #safety #livegrowplayaustin

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