Refilling your cartridges not only cuts down on the amount of plastic waste (that won't biodegrade) produced but also can help you save a lot of cash because you won't have to fork out even more money for yet another plastic inkjet cartridge.

When it comes down to it you're dealing with no just the cartridge that holds the ink itself. Nope. There's a lot of circuitry involved that helps the computer, printer and cartridge squirt the ink onto the paper with the kind of precision that you need to produce great results each time you print. The circuitry on most inkjet cartridges is pretty tough but it's not going to last forever. Eventually that cartridge will be beyond refilling - wear and tear will get the best of them in the end.

So how many times can you refill a cartridge? With an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) cartridge from companies like HP or Epson you can get away with refilling it about 5 times before any problems might start. Yes some companies will claim that a cartridge can be refilled 10, 12 or even 14 times. This might be physically true but every refill after the 5th one is a guesstimate at very best.

Flushing out your old ink cartridges makes sure that all traces of old or dried up ink are removed properly. This cuts down on the risk of clogged printheads that can ruin your print jobs and cause permanent damage to the printhead itself too. Many inkjet suppliers offer cartridge cleaning kits. However, there is a "catch". If you regularly refill your own cartridges to save money, the additional purchase of a cleaning kit substantially cuts into refill kit savings.

You also need to take one other important thing into account when you're refilling ink cartridges. What's that? The mess! The honest refill suppliers will tell you to keep a rolll of paper towels near you - because you're going to need them. You're probably going to wind up with ink on your hands and you'll need to wipe away all traces of ink from the printer and the refilled cartridges to avoid any long-term mess around your printer.

Last but not least is the fact that it takes time. You do save a lot of money by using refills but you need to think about how much your time is worth. Work out how much time it's going to take you to refill those cartridges and see if it's really worth your time overall.

You can still help the environment by purchasing remanufactured printer ink cartridges. Remanufactured inkjet cartridges are flushed, inspected and refilled. Reputable companies refill inkjet cartridges adhering to the highest ISO 9001 standards; so, what you get when you purchase a remanufactured cartridge is equal to brand new compatible inkjet cartridges but usually for less expense.

Hewlett Packard, Epson, and Lexmark all have programs that are free to customers who wish to recycle OEM printer ink cartridges. In addition, many independent programs recycle inkjet cartridges and donate the proceeds to charity.

While inkjet cartridge refill kits and bulk printer ink are one option to save on cartridge expense, the environmentally conscious inkjet printer owner has several other options available for recycling printer ink cartridges.