Recycling

3161 Views 11 Replies 11 Participants Last post by HandsomeRyan, Sep 30, 2009

thedarkknight

Discussion Starter · May 6, 2009

I guess you can say recycling is a bit of my personal campaign, I have always made a point of recycling as much of my trash as possible. I try to buy more earth-friendly products, even if it costs a few cents more.

For example, it's a great money saver to buy a re-usable water container, as well as much better for the environment. They are only a couple bucks at your local target or walmart. Another thing is to buy re-usable shopping bags, or at least opt for paper rather than for plastic. Simple things like this really add up.

What about you guys? Anyone else recycle?

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mike_g

· #2 · Jun 18, 2009

I recycle cans, plastic bottles, and cardboard. I like recycling and I also like saving money on trash bags! I also believe that little things add up to make a big difference. The only thing that really irritates me about recycling is that apartment buildings do not have a recyclables collector. I don't think it would be too hard to place a receptacle next the dumpster. I live in a very small apartment and it gets overwhelmed by my recycling until I make to load it up in the car, drive over to the recycling place, and unload it all.
Sorry, that's my little rant but yes, otherwise I am all about it!

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thoffman

· #3 · Jun 18, 2009

Much to my family's chagrin, I have instituted a recycling program for the house. Why, because there's no reason not to and as I said in an earlier post, the World is becomming a crowded place and I absolutely detest crowded, dirty places.

My small town is not very recycle-friendly. The landfill only accepts certain things; plastics 1&2, cardboard, cans, glass, and I have two choices. I can add $10 a month to my already exhorbitant sewer and garbage bill or I can take my recycleables to the dump by myself for free.

First, I am cheap and second, I'm not convinced that the trash men distinguish between a garbage can and a recycle bin. I think it all goes in the same place. So, once a week I grab my kids and we make the trek to the local transfer station. They love it (I hope you note the obvious sarcasm here)! I keep telling them that it's for their benefit but at 11 and 14, they just don't seem to get it.

So, that's my recycling story. I am still looking for an efficient way to sort out the various recyclables without taking up half of the garage so if anyone has a good suggestion, please let me know.

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Dan_3

· #4 · Jun 19, 2009

I'm with you on that one. Why do they push recycling on us so much then not make it easy for us to do? I don't mind rinsing out cans and bottles and breaking down cardboard boxes but I can't stand watching it pile up and slowly take over my kitchen floor and table until I drive my happy ass over to the center.

I don't know what to do in a house situation but I think you have a good idea there, Mike. I wouldn't think that it would be too expensive or too much work to add a huge recycle bin next to the dumpsters in apartment complexes.

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Norman

· #5 · Jul 3, 2009

I think it's very important to recycle, especially in times like these!

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Tarukai

· #6 · Jul 13, 2009

If you want an easy way to sort stuff and save space even in the garage, Thoffman, you could always try to find some of those laundry bins made of canvas or whatever (the BIG ones), and then divide it up with plastic or plywood dividers and put in bags for ease of emptying.

I need to recycle more than I do at work, because I don't a whole lot, but we have recycling machines outside so it's not like it's hard for me to. I do it at home, though.

Also, if your apartment complex doesn't have a system, try talking to your landlord/owner about it, and if they don't want to make the effort, put up signs and try setting something up yourself.

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Donald

· #7 · Jul 21, 2009

I need to recycle more at work too. We don't have any bins around work so sometimes I take easy things like cardboard home and take the to the center with me the next time I go.
Also, smashing down cans can make extra space. When I was teenager, my parents had this contraption of a can smasher bolted to the side of the house. I haven't seen one of those in ages though. Does anybody know where I can get me on? Should be pretty cheap I would think.

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JohnJamis

· #8 · Aug 10, 2009

Where do you recycle old computers?

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Gomez

· #9 · Aug 20, 2009

My wife got me into recycling as every recyclable article she found in the trash I was fined 10 bones by her. It gets deeper than that though, I have got to the point that I cut out plastics almost altogether. check out Think Beyond Plastics this should wake us all up.

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Tarukai

· #10 · Aug 21, 2009

Donald said:
Also, smashing down cans can make extra space. When I was teenager, my parents had this contraption of a can smasher bolted to the side of the house. I haven't seen one of those in ages though. Does anybody know where I can get me on? Should be pretty cheap I would think.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=12035721

only $15. I usually turn mine in at work though (work at a grocery store, we have return machines), so that way I get the deposit back.

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bikermandan

· #11 · Sep 15, 2009

I heard old wally world has them... not sure... Usually I would live with people who insisted on recycling but were always too lazy to go take it to the recycling center...

If you're that excited about it, you still have to pollute the air driving the stuff miles to the processing area (unless you bike with huge bags of cans like a hobo)

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HandsomeRyan

· #12 · Sep 30, 2009

I'm all for recycling certain things but other are actually worse for the environment to recycle than just to discard.

For example paper products: They come from trees, a renewable resource, but to recycle requires a bunch of nasty chemicals, shipping of heavy bulky materials, and for most applications, an inferior finished product. Paper comes from trees are grown to make paper in the same way that french fries come from potatoes that were grown just for this purpose. The idea that we are "running out of landfill space" is a myth. (we will eventually but not for another few hundred years; with the way things are going we'll have died out as a species by then.

Penn and Teller's show "Bull****" has an excellent episode on this topic.

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