Target says it's launched recycling stations this week at all 1,740 U.S. stores, and Whole Foods Market announced drop boxes for recycling wine corks at its 292 stores.

At the front of each store, Target's recycling bins accept aluminum, glass and plastic beverage containers as well as plastic bags, MP3 players, cell phones and ink cartridges.

"We know that eco-friendly living is top-of-mind for our guests," Shawn Gensch, Target's vice president of brand marketing said in the announcement.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day (April 22), Minneapolis-based Target says it's also launching an online eco-boutique with eco-friendly products and on Sunday, April 18, it will give buyers 1.5 million free reusable shopping bags. It offers gift cards for old laptops and phones and a nickel discount for each reusable bag used.

Whole Foods Market says the new drop boxes at its stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom will make it easier for wine enthusiasts to dispose properly of corks.

"We often forget that cork is a renewable, recyclable material that does not belong in landfills," Erez Klein, wine and beer buyer for Whole Foods Market's Pacific Northwest Region, said in the press release.

The Austin-based company is partnering with Cork ReHarvest to collect and recycle the corks, which will be transported to recycling centers on trucks already en route to each destination.

West of the Rockies, Whole Foods Market says the corks will be delivered to Western Pulp, where they'll be turned into recyclable wine shippers.

In the Midwest, the corks will go to Yemm & Hart to produce cork floor tiles and on the East Coast and in the United Kingdom, they'll be sent to Jelinek Cork Group, which makes various cork products.