We Need Tips For Recycling!

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My wife and I were happy to receive so much constructive advice from you all concerning our plan to adopt a more earth-friendly lifestyle.

Our next question is more straightforward. Do you have any tips for recycling? We live in a small apartment located in a community with a recycling center (although I have never been there). We are interested in reducing our waste by finding ways to reuse things or not consume so much in the first place. As far as the remaining waste, how do we determine what's recyclable and which is genuine trash? Please help us, we are currently causing unnecessary harm to Mother Earth!

Thank you.

Matt and Chiyuki Bidlack

-- Matt Bidlack (msbidlack@hotmail.com), October 20, 2000

Answers

Visit your recycling center and find out what kind of things they accept. Each center and program is different. They can show you where to look for the recycling codes on things and what they mean. Certain plastics, glass, aluminum, and newspapers are usually the minimun.

-- Vaughn (vdcjm5@juno.com), October 20, 2000.

Be Creative! My childrens pre-school programs BEGGED for art supplies, on the list were: tissue boxes, paper rolls, foam plates, string, wire, buttons, fabric scraps or yards, utensils, pots, wax. This list is from my 15 yr memory! Imagine what the school could use now! My trash, your treasure; or visa versa!

-- Kathy (catfish@bestweb.net), October 21, 2000.

The care homes in our areas use, used greeting cards for placemats pictures, etc.(the residents always need craft supplies) Also the day care centers always have a list of things they need! There are small compose buckets you can buy to put any scraps from your kitchen in (except meat) & make compose for your planting soil.(since you are in an apartment) Also things you have that are still good & you don't use/ make great bingo prizes for residents at care homes, also they enjoy magazines, books etc. I don't care what it is /if it is still good someone can use it. Then the rest can usually be recycled at the center. I have Care home lists, day care lists, school's lists, girl scouts lists. You have to see everything as how & who can use it!! Sonda in Ks.

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), October 21, 2000.

Consider eliminating trash by using re-usable items. For example, I keep a supply of cloth bags (the kind with cloth handles) in my car trunk and use them to bag my groceries at the grocery store instead of using paper or plastic bags. I found that bwfore I switched to cloth bags, I accumulated mountains of paper and plastic bags.

Also, consider eliminating the use of aluminum foil, plastic wrap, etc., by using Tupperware/Rubbermaid/Pyrex containers with lids to store leftovers, etc., in the refrigerator or freezer. The most efficient way to recycle or reduce trash is to eliminate use of unnecessary items.

-- Liz Rhein (merhein@shentel.net), October 21, 2000.


If you have a patio or balcony, you could build a small worm bed in a plastic bin . I did this while in an apartment as a green ordorless way to recycle vegetable wastes. I also kept a few worms in our potted plants as a way to keep root systems healthy. This way you are recycling some waste back to topsoil.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), October 21, 2000.


The plastic bags from the grocery store, Walmart, etc. make great "trash bags" for small trash cans, like those in the bathroom.

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), October 21, 2000.

I have tried for years to be as friendly to Mother Earth as possible but I never enjoyed the type of success I'm having now until I canceled trash pickup. Now I really think about everything. Do I really need something that has alot of extra packaging? I do not want to have to find a way of disposing of it? I compost and feed to the animals everything I can. I realize this is not an option for you at this time. I also try to reuse everything at least once. I have also found that often I really do not need an item that I thought I couldn't do without. Thinking first is the real answer to the problem. Not having trash pickup makes me think first. Good luck and thank you for being concerned.

-- Cheryl Cox (bramblecottage@hotmail.com), October 21, 2000.

You can eliminate a lot of waste by buying food, soap, shampoo, etc. at a natural foods coop. I think most of them have bulk bins where you can bring your own containers to fill up. You can then use the same containers over and over. I buy most of our kitchen staples this way - flour, oats, canola oil, peanut butter, etc.

-- Jane Pilsworth (ladyjane@mwt.net), October 22, 2000.

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