3.26.2009

Thursday Question: Recycling


Over at Just Wallpaper, Curtis asks:
Do you recycle? If so, why do you recycle and what specifically do you recycle? (I’m a recycling newbie)
If not, how come?


I have a huge confession: I don't recycle at home.

I recycle at work. I recycle at church. I compost. I don't waste food. We produce very little trash, to the point we only put our big trash can out by the road once every three or four weeks- we've even considered doing away with trash service altogether because of this.

But recycling? Because the amount of trash we produce is so low, number of recyclables would be even lower, so what's the point? Though, now that I think about it- I wonder how much of what we throw away is recyclable, and if we would have any trash at all if I actually made the effort to separate things out...?

Honestly, I'm not even sure if there's a recycling service that picks up by our house, since we're not in a subdivision. If I could motivate myself, I'd collect recyclables and take them to a city recycling center, which, from my understanding, is free to drop off. I should research what that entails. If I started collecting recyclables and discovered we had next-to-no trash, recycling may give us the opportunity to get rid of the trash service. At under $300 a year, it's not a lot, but it's something!

I've also heard of sharing recycling bins with your neighbor, if they're friendly and cooperative. They (or you) leave your recycling bin at the curb, and both households fill it and contribute to the cost of the pick up. Anyone remember the days when recycling centers PAID people to bring in cans?

I'll consider what it would take to start recycling at home and get back to you on my progress!

2 pennies for thoughts:

Beth @ The Natural Mommy said...

You should look into local drop-off centers. We've never had an option for pick-up, but luckily, we've always had drop-off points along paths we'd normally take anyway. When we lived in a bigger city, we even had Kroger stores with recycling bins! Talk about convenience! Now we use the city recycling station that's on the way to church (or rather, on the way BACK from church, as we never leave home w/ enough time to recycle first!)

But yeah, recycling reduces our trash tremendously. Of course, we go through more milk and juice than you guys do, what w/ our two toddlers. :-D We only have 1.5 bags (not garbage cans, *bags*) per week of trash. *Trying not to feel too prideful*



Beth @ The Natural Mommy said...

(And that's an average - we don't put out half a bag of trash, hehe. Must... conserve... trash bags! We'll have one bag one week, and two the next. Most likely we'll have forgotten to TAKE the trash out for the past two weeks and then we'll have 3-4.)



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