Gift cards -- at least the paper ones were recyclable

I figure, there are two types of gift cards -- one that you would actually re-use yourself (say, if you regularly frequented Tim Hortons) and another that are more suited for use-once purposes (such as a VISA gift card). Unfortunately, the first type is eventually lumped with the second type when you receive multiple cards as gifts.

The worst part, of course, is that plastic gift cards are not recyclable (or are they?). TD Canada Trust had a promotion in November 2007 for their early opening hours where the first 40 customers each day for a week got free $2 Tim Hortons gift cards. I don't bank there, but somehow was given two such cards by family members. Of course, after treating people to Timbits, the $4 was quickly used up and now both of the empty gift cards sit on my desk.

Do I throw these cards away? Do I make some sort of art out of them? I re-loaded a White Spot gift card recently in order to use it as a birthday present. The process was a bit more difficult than simply buying a new card, but it was worth it. I asked the manager what happens when a customer gives their used up gift card to the restaurant and he said that the gift card gets thrown away. He warned me of the social consequences of re-loading a card to give to someone else -- the usage history is not wiped clean, so if the recipient ever checks the history, they might either be confused or slightly insulted. Well, that don't matta to me! I'll do my best to keep as many cards rotated in society as much as possible. Unfortunately, my re-loading rate is probably lower than my receiving rate, so I will still end up with a growing stack of cards. What to do?