Need to get rid of an adult toy? City of San Antonio had you covered

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SAN ANTONIO — When city officials say they want to “go green,” they mean it.

Or, they meant it, at least.

Until late Tuesday afternoon, the city appeared to not be shy about offering a way to recycle any product, no matter how embarrassing.

A San Antonian surfing the city's website for recycle drop-off locations and programs could easily find a mail-in program to recycle their “adult toys.” Not only could one recycle the item, but they were eligible to receive a $10 credit toward their next purchase from the online store that facilitates the program, ScarletGirl.com.

“Simply mail in your clean, dry adult toys and they will be disinfected and disassembled to remove and segregate all components and electronics,” the page said.

Tiffany Edmonds, public relations manager for the city's Solid Waste Management, said she was surprised to see the mail-in program on the city's website.

“We didn't even know this was on here,” she said Tuesday afternoon. “Now that I do, it may not be up there for long.”

Officials removed the recycling widget almost immediately after receiving a call from the Express-News on Tuesday. It is unclear how web-surfing San Antonians will find a resource to recycle their products now.

Edmonds said the adult toy recycling program is featured in an app embedded on the city's page called “Earth, 911” that allows users to search locations to recycle a wide range of products, from barbecue pits to electronics. She said the app is not customized to San Antonio residents and is used on many different websites. The widget has a feature allowing a user to input their ZIP code to find a location near them.

“The reason we (have the app) is to help residents who are not in our program, for example people outside the city, to find a place to recycle an item,” she said. “Or to find a location to recycle items we may not accept.”

The app could have come in handy here in the Alamo City. In February, Amazon.com named San Antonio the most romantic city in the country, based on 2013 purchases per capita of romantic material ranging from Marvin Gaye albums to adult toys. Getting rid of the novelties in an environmental-friendly way is not as easy as purchasing them with a few clicks.

“Items submitted are never repaired or re-sold, they are disassembled, and the waste streams are recycled,” Vicki Kriner, of ScarletGirl, said in an email. “Like cell phones, most toys are generally composed of plastics, metals, and electronics, which can be recycled once disassembled. Our recycling program has kept thousands of pounds of non-biodegradable material out of landfills.”

The ScarletGirl website describes the company as an online only store that also facilitates “in-home pleasure parties.”

kparker@express-news.net

Twitter: @KoltenParker