Target's car seat trade-in program is back. From April 22 to May 4, if you take your old car seat to Target, you'll get a 20-percent off coupon to use on a new one or other baby equipment.
Target will take anyhing, from infant to booster seats, and it doesn't matter if the old seat is damaged, outdated, grungy or just plain gross. Target turns the seats over to Waste Management, which recycles material from them, and you get the coupon, which can be used until May 11 in store or online.
You have to go to a Target store, however, to get the coupon. Most Targets are participating as drop-off locations. Go here to make sure yours is one of them.
The coupon is good on a new car seat, but if don't need one, it can be used on certain other baby items "such as playards, high chairs, swings, rockers and bouncers," Target says.
Target has been running the trade in each April since 2016 and says it has recycled more than 7.4 million pounds of material. Which seems like a lot, but since there are days those car-seat carriers feel like they weigh about 400 pounds, maybe that's not as much as it seems.
If you're lucky enough to have kids who are now old enough and big enough to use a seat belt, congratulations. Enjoy this brief window between car-seat confinement and getting their learner's permit. Maybe take your old car seats to Target and pick up a coupon to get something a new parent can use. You don't even have to scrape the Goldfish cracker crumbs from the crevices or unstick the push button from its years of juice and jam infiltration.
