How do you recycle?

[2much2luv]

Ok,I admit it, we rarely recycle. I need help with figuring out an inexpensive way to store recyclables. We have a very small home, a teeny tiny kitchen, and nowhere to put any containers. I like the looks of those tall stacked bins but sooo expensive. We tried big plastic rubbermaid boxes outside but with the lids, having to take them off...it seemed a bit of a hassle. I'm afraid to do open boxes outside with no lids because animals might make a mess of it.
So anyway, how do you do it? Give me your ideas, if you got any.

[tboroson]

Hi! We are lucky enough to live near a private recycling facility that takes almost everything; Unfortunately, that means we're drowning in recyclables if we don't go every week. What we did is bought two large, attractive, inexpensive wicker laundry bins from Pier One. One is for all kinds of paper, the other is for everything else. We rarely have trouble with the paper one overflowing, but we do end up with bags of everything else that won't fit into the baskets sometimes. When it starts to overflow, we sort it out by plastic number and glass color and type of metal, etc, into paper grocery bags and stash all those out in the garage until we can get to the recycling center. The baskets are very nice looking in our kitchen, and by sorting all the recyclables at home we save a lot of time at the recycling center.

[Meiri]

Since recycling is mandated by law in our state, the municipality supplied us with A bin for them. I collect the glass and plastics and cans in a plastic grocery bag, then DS takes them down to the bin, which goes out every 2 weeks.

The garbage collection is supposed to be doing newspapers again, but I don't trust them any more. I bag our papers and other recyclable papers in paper grocery bags and take them to the bins setup by PA Cleanways. They collect just about any kind of paper except corrigated cardboard. I keep my brown paper bags until they wear out, then they go into the bins too.

I mostly use cloth bags for the groceries, and recycle the plastic ones in the store bins.

[chamonix]

You should go ahead and try the outside bins with no lids. We have bins from the city, just tubs really with no lids (just like the Rubbermaid tubs). Since you rinse everything, the animals do not ever bother with the recyclables at all...and we have lots of critters out there. They mess with everything else--they get into our garbage cans every night unless we secure the lids, they eat our bird seed, etc. I once saw a possom gnawing on dh's bike helmet when he left it outside! Our garbage cans are right next to the open recycle bins, but the possoms, raccoons, squirrels, etc. have never ever bothered the recyclables. Just be sure to rinse the cans out. Especially the stinky ones like cat food.
I can't stand to have the recycle stuff in the house all week until garbage day, and since there is a door to the outside right in the kitchen, we just throw the cans right out the door and into the bins once we rinse them. Try it, really. You might be surprised.

[melaniewb]

Yep, our city also supplies us with a bin, and they pick up weekly, which is great. I just put the items throughout the day in a paper bag and toss it in the recycling bin at the end of the day.

[doulamomvicki]

We have curbside recycling here. My 10yr old is in charge of sorting and bagging. He also thinks up real creative ways to reuse things that would otherwise be tossed.

[EmeraldStar8]

* double post.

[EmeraldStar8]

We to have curbside recycyling over here. I live in a block of 5 townhouses, so our block were supplied with 2 wheelie bins which go out weekly.

I don't use plastic bags when i do my grocery shopping, i use calico bags. My plastic yoghurt pottles and other plastic pottles i keep in a big box under the stairs along with a box for anything cardboard including toilet tubes, cracker boxes, catfood boxes.

I have a can opener which leaves smooth edges, so i keep some can's to decorate and store small items in, such as pencils/pens, spare change.

My magazines and junk mail i use for collages and arty things for my boy. Cards also get recycled here for arty things

Squeezy bottles i find uses for including paint and other things.

[boycrazy]

Originally posted by melaniewb
Yep, our city also supplies us with a bin, and they pick up weekly, which is great. I just put the items throughout the day in a paper bag and toss it in the recycling bin at the end of the day.

pretty much same here

[MamaMonica]

curbside here, too- we just separate the glass. We rent the giant bin for a small fee- I think $1.50 a month. The bin has a lid and we store it next to the trash can outdoors.

[lilmiss'mama]

We put 3 paper bags in the hall closet right off the kitchen. one for glass, cans, and plastic, one for newspaper, and one for all other paper. We rinse the food containers out well and then putting everything in the bags. On trash day we take them outside and put them in the small bin the city gives you.

[Ilaria]

We have curbside recycling too.
They give us a big trsahcan for the street and a small square bucket thing for inside. We keep it in the laundry room and when it's full we empty it into the big one outside, all together.

[anythingelse]

We try to re use first more then put it out in the recycle

we have dumpster divers that have discovered pop cans in the neighbors recycle bins so now I am going through a wierd mental thing (since I know our trash is getting looked through) about not recycling any paper with personal info on it that is turing into shreds for composting

[Cranberry]

We have curbside recycling with a bin provided by the town. We recycle so much that our bin was overflowing by the time it was picked up (every 2 weeks). So we bought a Rubbermaid 30-gallon trash barrel and we fill that up with our plastic and glass stuff. We recycle as much as possible.

[Bippity]

We have a wicker basket that's probably.... 3-4 feet tall & 24" around that we stuffed into a corner in our kitchen. We put everything we can recycle into that bin and then when it's full (like every week) DH divides it all up into boxes & takes the boxes to the recycling center. Fortunately, we have a great recycling program that takes just about everything.

We also have curbside recycling, but we don't trust 'em to do it very well & the only take a few things - they don't take nearly as much of a variety of stuff as the recycling center.

It still amazes me how much garbage makes its way into our house (both recyclable and non)!

[LDSmomma6]

We don't. Kinda sad, but it's to much work.

[momadance]

We have a huge black ugly ACO garbage can sittingg out kitchen and a small green one for paper goods. When they are full we have to drive 15-20 minutes away to the sounty recycling center! Big pain in the booty, but after all the hassle, we sure do feel good about ourselves!

[2much2luv]

Sounds like maybe throwing it all into a big ol trashcan and sorting through it as needed will be the best way for us. I tell you , our kitchen is so small there isn't a corner to sit a basket in. Its like a closet. :LOL
Thanks for you r tips. I wish we had curbside pick up here. The recycle center here doesn't even take everything. Any ideas on what I can do with "thin" cardboard...like mac n cheese boxes type stuff? We eat out of a box way too often and they don't take those boxes.
Thanks again. recycling starts today! I have been so lazy about it. I just need to get off my duff and do it.

[Ilaria]

I'm impressed by everyone who has to sort it and drive it to the recycling center! If only everyone was that caring!

[SaveTheWild]

Originally posted by LDSmomma6
We don't. Kinda sad, but it's to much work.

It really isn't much work. I think it is just whether you think of it as that or not. People "sort" all sorts of other things and don't think twice about it. People sort their laundry to wash it, sort it to put it away (socks in one place, sweaters somewhere else), people sort their groceries when they put them away (cans in one place, sereal in another) and sort all kinds of other things.

It is just a matter of making it seem as "normal" as every other kind of sorting you do. In fact, as far as taking actions to lessen ones personal detrimental impact on the environment, it is one of the easier things that people can do.



Oh, and to answer to OP. We keep buckets in the garage. One for glass, one for tin/aluminum and plastic (in our city those are sorted together for some reason), newspaper and mixed "other" paper. We rinse the stuff out as we are cleaning up/doing dished and put them right out there right then. When those get full we take them out to the big bins that are used by our condo complex.