Susan W
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recycle trash

Not the most exciting topic, but I am sharing our smiles for the recycle trash. As it was, the green roll-out bin of trash picked up 1/week. Then they added an open recycle bin, put out same time. Stuff needed separated, and not condusive to using for some things with weather (wind, rain etc). Now, we are in the big time....roll out recycle bin!
I have noticed, as others have, we now have more in recycle than regular! I keep a paper bag by desk for dead paper, letters, etc. Also can put bags of newspaper and more in during week without worrying about weather (wind, rain).

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rainbowgardener
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In Cincinnati, we had curbside recycling, big roll out green bin with cover, no sorting needed, throw paper, cardboard, aluminum, cans, glass, some plastics in the bin and they pick it up twice a month. Very easy and convenient.

But I have read that in fact it isn't working very well - people throw all kinds of trash and garbage in them, wrong kind of plastic, hazardous wastes, stuff gets contaminated, etc. etc. Trying to sort and reclaim all this stuff becomes very costly. Some cities, including Cincinnati that have this kind of recycling are thinking about dropping it.

Where I am now, there is no curbside recycling at all. Lots of grocery stores have some bins outside them for at least some kinds of recycling. And the city (or county? I'm not sure) has a couple of very nice recycling centers. You have to bring your stuff there and sort it - green glass, clear glass, mixed paper, corrugated cardboard, plastic #1, plastic #2, etc. But they take all kinds of stuff including e-waste, CFL's, etc. So you have to be a lot more motivated and I'm sure lots more stuff never makes it to recycle. But it seems like the stuff that does is more usable.

What's missing is public service ad campaign to educate people how to do this and WHY it is so important.

And then maybe a pay for recycling kind of program, at least for the more valuable stuff like paper, aluminum, etc. I know there were some places in Cincinnati, where you could sell your recyclables. Haven't really done a search to see if you can here. But I remember returnable bottles when I was a kid, that you could bring in to get the nickel deposit back. We used to scour the neighborhood to find bottles to return. You would think if there were accessible places to sell stuff, kids, homeless, and others would be out picking up recyclables to return.

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

We have a municipal recycling program. It was started partly because the landfill was filling up too fast especially after the hurricanes and of course no one wants the new landfill in their back yard. However, in the news recently, the person in charge of recycling for the city says that it actually costs the city more to recycle some things. Cans and beverage bottles are charged a recycling fee, most of which is recouped when the bottles are turned into the recycling centers. However most of the recyclable plastic costs more to ship off island and would be put to better use if they went to the city's H-power plant to be burnt to create electricity. Newspaper is worth 1.5 cents a lb to recycle but it costs more than that to ship it out of state. In places where there is a market for the recyclables it makes sense but it doesn't work everywhere.

The best thing that I do to reduce my carbon footprint is to reuse as much as possible. I reuse plastic water bottles. Other bottles I make fruit fly traps out of and I save most of the plastic drink cups and the food containers from Costco salads and prepared foods to use when I go to outings instead of paper plates and some of the larger containers I use to bring my potluck dish in. I don't always get the container back from the host though. I collect the clamshell containers and use them to make mini greenhouses for the seedlings and use yogurt, drink cups and tofu containers for seedlings. I save the extra napkins from McDonalds as well. Some of the quart to gallon size containers I keep for pickled onions and to store small items like nuts and bolts or nails. I also have brought bottles to the community garden since we use bottles for mailboxes. I collect a few newspapers from friends and I use them to line my cat litter boxes and as mulch in the garden. I bring cardboard boxes to the garden for the monthly sales.

There are a lot of uses for things besides throwing it in the trash. You just have to sometimes think outside of the box or the bottle. I keep my old cotton shirts, pants and towels and bring it to my brother's shop so they can use it for rags. I had a friend who made me a purse from recycled materials mostly sheets and remnants. I take the egg boxes and flats to the Chicken farm and they reuse them as long as they are clean. Some of the flats end up as food in my worm bin. I have a collection of 2 liter soda bottles that I have kept on the side to use as water bottles in case a major storm hits us. I will send them to recylcing once the hurricane season is over. The used dryer sheets are good for dusting.

Vegetable scraps go into the worm bin or trench composting in the garden. I use the cut bamboo as stakes or for the support of the trellis in the garden.

I only put out the blue recyclables (plastic, glass, paper, cardboard) bin maybe two or three times a year.

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KeyWee
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Location: West Kentucky

I agree with imafan ~ find re-uses for everything AND try hard not to buy items with junk packaging to begin with. Whenever I can, I buy things in glass containers (not that you see much of THAT anymore). I use the jars for everything ~ spices, seeds, grains, etc. I also collect glass jars from folks that I know, so they don't go to waste either.
In the rural area where we live, we have to haul our own trash to a collection station, no curb-side pick up. So you are on your own honor to re-use, separate, as you will. There is no supervision at the collection station, so you could throw a body in there if you wanted to:)))

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rainbowgardener
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I quite agree -- The best energy is the energy you don't use. The best waste is the waste you don't create. Trying not to buy stuff with so much packaging is really important, not only so you don't bring it home, but so that maybe manufacturers will get the idea and not use so much packaging, which is even better.

Our collection station is theoretically supervised all the hours it's open. But the person in the little building may or may not come out while you are sorting and depositing your recyclables. I just think that people who are motivated enough to bring their recyclables to the station (it's a 15-20 min drive for me, saving grace is that it is near the gym I go to, so I can combine trips) are probably motivated enough to properly sort them.

Plastic water bottles are a pet peeve of mine!

Americans used about 50 billion plastic water bottles last year. That comes out to 1500 bottles per second, every second of every day. However, the U.S.'s recycling rate for plastic is only 23 percent, which means 38 billion water bottles – more than $1 billion worth of plastic – are wasted each year. Making bottles to meet America’s demand for bottled water uses more than 17 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel 1.3 million cars for a year. And that’s not even including the oil used for transportation. https://www.banthebottle.net/bottled-water-facts/

You can get a water purifying pitcher to keep in your fridge or water purifier for your faucet. If you do that you will be drinking water that is exactly as pure as most bottled water sold, which is just purified municipal water. Get yourself a stainless steel water bottle to put your purified water in for taking it with you and use it for the next decade!

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tomf
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Location: Oregon

At one time I would never had thought anyone could sell bottled water, now it creates a large waste problem. Has anyone seen any of the data or documentaries on plastics in the oceans? Walking on the coast I can say it is a real problem.
We are into recycling, I even recycle old jokes.

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

The state charges a beverage fee for bottled beverages now so the bottles that used to be strewn along the roadside and in the parks are being picked up now by people who actually go out looking for them and the homeless will turn them in for the 5 cents redemption fee. They will even go through peoples trash cans looking for them. Unfortunately, they don't pick up any of the trash they dump out or find along the way.

I buy a couple of cases of water a year, mostly for backup for hurricane season. I do reuse the bottles more than once but, eventually the plastic does deteriorate and I do have to change the bottles. I don't like water bottles because I keep losing them and they are hard to clean. I do drink a lot of sodas and it is bad for me, but I am addicted. I buy it in 2 liter containers so I only have one bottle and not 6 smaller ones and I do reuse those bottles or give them to my mom so she gets the recycling money. I have a 7-Eleven cup that I can bring to a couple of places for refill instead of using their cups and my container is insulated so it can keep the drink cold for up to 6 hours. I use it for tea and water as well.

Susan W
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I didn't mean for this to be a thread about 'I'm greener than you or I recycle more.' Simply put, when one has a covered bin with weekly pick-up, much more gets put in there. If one has to separate, drive to a location etc, usually recycle less, especially if bags get stacked up inside house.

As for hazardous stuff including batteries, computers, paint, chemicals etc, we do have a manned drop-off location open limited hours 2 days/week. I only have to go to that one about 1/year.

As for having less packaging, always a goal. One way to try for this is cook from scratch, have less expendable income (no $ for carry-out or packaged stuff).

Try to be green in your own way!

Susan W
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On a 2nd note on recycling here, which is preaching to the choir...
How to get more people involved in recycling their trash, especially when options available? When options limited, especially rural and smaller towns, not easy. There needs to be more of a push in schools, offices etc. Then awareness and demand dictate more options for residential areas.

mshields
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Recycling is great, but really to make the most impact on the environment we should try to reduce how much waste we're making. A quick google can show hundreds of different ways to not even have to dispose of reuse junk normally thrown in the garbage. Here's one I just found: https://citywasteservices.ca/2016/09/29/ ... -disposal/ :D

ButterflyLady29
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Location: central Ohio

We have recycling services here with our trash but I've seen a lot of trash placed in recycle bins. Even our former drop-off station ended up with a pile of contaminated material. Simple trash and non-recyclable material mixed in. Driving down the street on trash day will show just how little people care about proper recycling even when it's free and a bin is provided.

I use my old newspapers as mulch in the garden. It's not a paper I pay for or even want but the closest city drops it off once a week anyway. Lots of stuff we burn, dirty tissues, old receipts, junk mail, cardboard packaging. It makes good fire starting material and reduces the amount of trash we set out each week. Most food waste goes into the compost bin.

But you know there are only so many uses for old plastic pop bottles. I tried a pop bottle vertical garden set-up. I've got dozens of bottles already cut for the project but time has been seriously lacking. Maybe now that I'm not working I can get it ready before the snow flies.

Just this year our local store had cloth planting bags made of recycled plastics for sale. I bought a bunch but on the clearance rack instead of paying full price. It's a great concept but the product was made in China. I don't have anything against those people who work so hard for such a meager wage but we need to get back to making stuff in this country and buying local instead of importing everything. But that debate is a whole 'nother topic.

And why is it that milk jugs deteriorate so quickly? You can't really reuse them for anything because they fall apart or develop leaks after a few uses. Water jugs that are made of the same material are just as bad.

Yes, bottled water is responsible for a good portion of the waste stream. But even in the states many people have a reason for buying it. The recent Flint, Michigan water fiasco was a good example of why safe water is such a hot commodity. Once my daughters school had to give the students bottled water because their water was not safe to drink. And this past summer the municipal water supply in much of Ohio was unsafe for a large portion of the population.

One thing that gets me upset about the recycling movement is the lack of drop-off locations in major cities in Ohio. I live just south of Columbus but it costs me quite a bit in gas to drive to a rechargeable battery drop-off location. Compact florescent bulbs are even harder to get rid of. And for shop light tubes we've been told to put them in a bag and break them and dispose of them with the trash.

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

We are lucky I guess, besides curbside recycling we do have convenience centers that take household garbage and larger items like appliances and empty propane tanks. They used to take green waste, but now the green waste has to be taken to the city composting facility a mile further down the road.

Every three months the city sponsors a hazardous waste collection day where by appointment we can take down things like chemicals and pesticides. Home depot will recycle light bulbs and small batteries in the store for free and battery and tire dealers are required to take the old ones for disposal. Parts of car batteries and radiators can be recycled.

Stores are required to recycle cardboard and the composting facility is supposed to be building a new building so that they can also take restaurant food waste as well for recycling. They don't do that now because of the vermin problem.

The city also has curbside pickup for large household items once a month for things like tv sets, appliances, beds, furniture that would also be accepted at the convenience center but easier for people who don't have trucks to drive it there. Gas, propane tanks cannot be left on the curb. Paint can be dried and up to 1 gallon can be put in the trash per pick up.

I buy a lot of things in bulk bottles and I decant to smaller bottles that I use so there are less bottles to recycle. I only have a 13 gallon bag of houshold trash and another bag of cat litter to dispose of every week. I do admit though, I probably have some stuff that have been cluttering up the house that I really should throw out or give away. I also admit that I have way more green waste than trash and since green waste is collected every two weeks and not at all on a holiday, I will throw some of the green waste into the trash can because I do have room for it. I have 2 green cans and it takes about an hour to fill one. I requested a second and I had to prove to them that I needed it. I could use more but in an HOA environment, I have to find a place to store them between pickups. I think I can make room for one more if I move the blue can (plastic, newspapers, cardboard, glass) by the back door since I only put that out once every 3 months, then I will have space for one more can at least.

I never really had a lot of trash even before the recycling started, most of my can was filled with green waste and not household waste. I reuse things more than once and that helps.

Here when we get things like soup or saimin (ramen to you probably), we can bring a pot to the restaurant to put it in. It is a common practice here and it saves on the disposable containers.

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applestar
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Home depot will recycle light bulbs and small batteries in the store for free
This was what I was going to say, too. I'm pretty sure both Home Depot and Lowes have CFL bulb recycling bins and I live where both of them are (competitively?) built near each other in two directions from my house within something like a 5 mile radius, and generally a convenient detour stop anywhere else I go. Walmart might as well. Best Buy had the battery drop off, I think.

Imafan, I didn't understand this bit
Here when we get things like soup or saimin (ramen to you probably), we can bring a pot to the restaurant to put it in. It is a common practice here and it saves on the disposable containers.
...though maybe I will when I'm more awake... :roll:

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!potatoes!
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I think imafan means bringing your own take-out containers for restaurants.

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applestar
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:idea:) ah ha! :-()

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Here, the township does the trash collection and county handles the recycling, and at least our neighborhood of the township are on different days of the week, so for us it's not likely to be confusing.... Though sometimes it's not easy to keep track of the weekly trash vs. bi-weekly (every other week) recycle collection when holidays cause a day-shift or week-shift.

We were one of the test areas for wheeled bins and automated truck collection for both trash and recyclables so we had that convenience earlier than others. Initially, only papers went in the wheeled bin and the glass/plastic went in regular trash can which needed manned trucks for pick up. But the County changed something in the processing so we no longer have to separate glass, plastic, and paper -- all go into the giant wheeled bin, gets picked up by the arm of the automated/1-driver truck and dumped in together into the maw of the beast.

My kids loved watching the truck pick up and EAT the trash when they were little -- we would run from window to window to follow its progress, I would pick them up onto chairs and window benches so they could see, and then we would supply the sound effects -- "MMMM!! (Grab) --open wide --- (AAAAHHHHH) -- glug, glug, glug, nom, nom, nom ...oooh some extra-treats in here today.... YUMMY! BURP! " --- "NEXT!!!" :lol: :mrgreen:

...it was one of the milestones of their growing up when they stopped wanting to watch the trash truck... :>

At home, we've composted forever -- I've seen them hesitate/struggle to throw out compostable kitchen waste and paper napkins in regular trash when no other options were available. :D

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Recycling is good and it saves space in the landfill. However, I did not like that they took one of the trash days for recycling. Even though I don't have a lot of trash, I don't like it hanging around long either. I have to freeze the food waste that does not go down the disposal or the trash can smells and draws vermin when it is only collected weekly. This would be less of a problem in a cold climate but in a warm climate, food left in the can for more than a few days reeks.

ButterflyLady29
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I've never seen recycle bins at either store (Lowes and Home Depot), and I was at Home Depot today. According to an internet search they take only rechargeable batteries, not household alkaline batteries. I don't use rechargeables because they don't work as well in flashlights or my TENS unit.



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