Tonight I had the honor of presenting my SA sponsor with a 19-year chip. It is a brand new chip. He saves his chip and presents it to me each September, fifteen months later. We have been doing this for years. I think that receiving a chip from a member who has carried it for a year makes it even more special. The chip already has a year or more of sobriety associated with it; this gives me additional incentive to keep it clean and pass it on.

One member who practices this form of recycling, getting a chip from his sponsor, was asked by one of his sponsees, “Why an old one? You could have a new one.” He replied, “Ah, but this one has sobriety rubbed into it.”