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Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith debuted May 20^th, leaving plastic action figures and toys, thousands of used lightsaber batteries and tons of packaging in its wake.

Earth 911 is urging the recycling and reuse of the movie’s marketing tie-ins.

It’s estimated that more than 250 million Star Wars action figures had been sold prior to 1999 alone, the year Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released. Given an average weight of 0.73 ounces per figurine, Earth911.org calculates the total to be more than 5,700 tons, the equivalent of approximately 1,453 Hummer vehicles.

To help fans resist the Dark Side, Earth911.org has released its suggestions for reusing and recycling Star Wars products and packaging:

Local recycling sites for the products above can be found using Earth911.org’s zip code search tool.

www.Earth911.org receives support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state and local governments and is funded by corporate partners.

Alcan Inc., headquartered in Montreal, has announced the first winners of its annual Alcan Builds on Recycling program.

Habitat for Humanity Sunshine Coast in Sechelt was the top per-capita recycling affiliate, and Habitat for Humanity Toronto was recognized as the top recycler.

Alcan awarded these affiliates, which recycled the largest number of used aluminum beverage cans, with $60,000 (Canadian) to fund the construction of a new home in their communities.

Alcan launched the initiative in May 2004 as part of its sustainability-based Community Investment portfolio.

The Alcan Builds on Recycling program provides two levels of incentives for Habitat for Humanity affiliates to recycle UBCs. The first provides matching grants, to a maximum of $2,500 (Canadian) yearly, to the affiliates who earn the highest cash value through UBC recycling. The second awards a fully funded house to the two most successful recyclers—one on the basis of total cans collected, the other on the basis of total cans collected per capita in the affiliate’s region.

Habitat for Humanity Canada is a faith-based, non-profit, charitable organization.

The Body Shop—with the support of celebrities like Grammy winner Missy Elliott—is urging Americans to bring hope to countless domestic violence victims by spring cleaning with a conscience, recycling the estimated 65 million old cell phones lying around in homes across the United States.

The Body Shop has partnered with the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), the Wireless Foundation and Lifetime Television for the 2005 Donate a Phone, Save a Life campaign.

The "Donate a Phone, Save a Life," campaign ends Aug. 31, 2005.

Donated phones will be sold, refurbished or recycled by Recellular Inc. of Dexter, Mich., with proceeds benefitting NCADV and the Wireless Foundation. Some working phones will be distributed to women’s shelters.