recycling center
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By Emily

August 6th, 2018

I partnered with The Good Stuff by Coupons.com on this sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

Let’s get started. Recycling is the process of converting waste items into new-usable products. There are tons of items that you can recycle such as plastic, steel, paper, and aluminum among others. When you are recycling your household items, you will be contributing to the conservation of energy and raw materials.

According to Environment Protection Agency recycling, one ton of paper saves approximately 17 trees as well as gallons of water. In addition to saving raw materials, recycling also saves energy, reduces the usage of land, minimizes air pollution and more. You and your family can also participate in recycling.

Know What You Need to Recycle

In every location, there are different rules on how recyclables should be sorted and packaged. However, most places tend to accept aluminum, metal food cans, plastic, and glass.

Prior to recycling, you should ask your local waste management team to explain to you what you can recycle, how you need to sort and package the items and when they collect the recycling. You should also inquire about where you should dispose of batteries, bulbs and other dangerous items that should not be included in the trash.

Recycle bin

Sorting and Recycling Plastics the Right Way

It is always advisable to use a water filter at home since it greatly reduces the need for water bottles. Sometimes this is not entirely possible because you need to carry your water around. For this reason, it is crucial that you come up with a way to sort and recycle your plastics.

Plastic can be difficult to recycle since some types break easily. You should use the number printed at the bottom of plastics to know if it can be recycled. The number can also assist you to shop for plastic products that can easily be recycled.

With the countless methods of sorting, collecting and recycling plastics; it can be a little tedious to establish a recycling strategy that works perfectly in your home. Here are a few ideas on how to sort your plastics:

•    Convenient Trash Bins: Your recycling program can become unsuccessful if you don’t have
an easy access to your trash bin. The pullout container can greatly be of help especially if you
position it right at your kitchen.
•    Baskets with Tags: It’s only right that your kids should also access the recycling system.
That is why sliding baskets can be a great idea for you. Remember to tag them according to the
content that they will hold. In addition, you can slide the baskets out of view when they are not
in use.

•    Vertical Cans: If you want to economize on your sorting and storage space, you should consider the vertical bins. You can have as many as 6 bins since you just need to hook the containers vertically against the wall.
•    Stylish Trash Containers: Your recycling project doesn’t have to be plain and boring. You can make it interesting by painting your trash cans. This can be a great way to bring on board the reluctant family members.
•    Printable Stickers: Is painting your trash cans a little too much for you? You can opt for printable stickers that you can place on basic trash bins. In a matter of seconds and you have everything in place!
•    The Battery Station: A great mistake that you should avoid is mixing your batteries and bulbs in the same trash can as the rest of the items. Instead, use old coffee containers that can act as a great recycling spot for your batteries.
•    Wooden Sorting Center: When your family is large, you need a functional recycling center that will perfectly suit your needs. You can easily come up with a wooden recycling center with tools that you could find in the hardware store.
•    Create Garbage Place: It might be a challenge for you to create a recycling system inside your house. In such a scenario, you should opt for a spot outside your home where you will be keeping your trash.

There can never be a shortage of things that you can recycle in your home. It can be a little tedious to come up with the best sorting and recycling system. However, with the numerous ways that are listed above, you can get into the habit of recycling your waste in no time.

Choose a recycling program that is easy for your whole family to adopt. All in all, recycling is actually a small switch that you can make in your lifestyle. Actually, it can be really fun to recycle your waste bearing in mind that you are contributing to an eco-friendly environment.

This post currently has 5 responses.

  • ellen beck

    Iam a recycler from way back. I specifically detst plastics and try to avoid them if at all possible. The only exception I do not mind are returnable bottles since they are definitely recycled. Plastics are a scourge in our water ways, on land etc. I mean they are convenient, bu being a petroleum product, they last forever. I have seen oher countries starting to burn them and harnessing for fuel, which makes a lot of sense.

    Great post!

  • Heather

    Great info here! I wish recycling was made easier to do in our area. It costs more here and I feel like they don’t accept much. I do try and lessen my garage. I don’t buy bottled water very often at all. Maybe one case a year. I try and use re-usable containers instead of plastic baggies that get thrown out after one use.

  • gloria patterson

    There is no recycling bins in my senior high rise. Our town is not very good at recycling they go through stages. I no longer buy water it all comes out of the tap. No longer use plastic storage items. I check at the local thrift store for glass storage containers.

    • Unfortunately my area is pretty bad about recycling too. I didn’t even realize until a few years ago that many cities provide trash and recycling services through taxes! Our city has neither so I actually know quite a lot of people who still use burning barrels to just burn all their garbage instead of sending it to a landfill…so recycling isn’t about to happen for many. But we pay for a regular garbage pickup service and we realised we can pay an extra $20 or so a quarter and then they give us a second bin, identical to the trash one, except with a green lid and we can put anything recyclable in there – plastics, paper, cardboard, tin, etc and they sort it out at the facility so it’s really quite effortless, it just takes rinsing food or shampoo type bottles to make sure things are mostly clean and then tossing it in the bin. I get a lot of boxes due to review items being mailed to me so ours is almost always full of cardboard it seems.

  • Alice F

    Recycling is so important to our enviroment. Really happy you posted about the importance of recycling Emily. Our country as a whole has so much work to do in this area. However, it starts with baby steps and your post is a great first step.

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