How dedicated a recycler are you?

[marmar]

I'll admit it: I'm very inconsistent. From time to time I'll round up plastics and take them to the local recycling center, or take my newsprint and plain paper to the recycling bins at work.
What about you? Do you recycle....

[karlrschneider]

1. I voted but it wasn't quite accurate (for choice 7)

We DO recycle aluminum cans but that's the only thing we have a way to recycle out here (and it isn't really close but it's doable as we have to go to the town where it is now and then)

[Throd]

2. My ratio is about 80% recycling to 20% garbage.

It is very disturbing to see how many resources go into to excessive packaging.

[OnionPatch]

3. We have curbside service, no sorting

so that makes it easy to recycle every little thing. :)

[enlightenment]

13. Same here, although I just found out a disturbing bit of

information about our recycling/trash service. Someone who works on the recycling side of the facility said that the only thing that gets recycled is the plastic and aluminum -- the paper, cardboard, and glass apparently just goes into the landfill, DESPITE the fact that it's supposed to be recycled.

The city service (Republic) has a monopoly in town, so there are no other options. I need to verify this information, but things could get ugly out here -- grrrhhhh.

on edit: spelling

[Viva_La_Revolution]

21. They get fined for that here in Oregon... but every state is different.

I just got out of 5 years in the business.

Ask me anything. :)

[enlightenment]

43. Won't happen here, worse luck.

The county gave Republic a ridiculous contract -- monopoly protection for something like the next 30 years. Now Repbulic wants to cut back on the twice-weekly pick-up (and believe me, in Las Vegas, that's a health issue in the summer) in return for "increasing the recycling pick-up" which is every two weeks. This is a pretty significant change to the agreed upon contract (which also allows Republic to set their rates at what the market will bear . . .)

I'd be fine with more frequent recycle pick-ups if I believed they were actually recycling; apparently they're not doing that.

sigh.

[City Lights]

24. Same with us.

We frequently fill three bins. I try to recycle everything that can be recycled. Sometimes I toss stuff that requires too much water to clean before dumping into the bin.

[Gormy Cuss]

28. We have curbside, 64 gallon buckets.

We used to separate paper from bottles and cans in separate compartments of one bucket but now it's sorted at the recyling center. Our second bucket is for green waste but we compost so that one hits the curb only about once a month.

We have $$ incentives to recycle because the trash rate is reduced based on how small a trash bin is used.

The system is so simple I'm amazed at a few of my neighbors who put everything in the trash bucket.

[otohara]

4. Why No Choice

for always and always?

I recycle absolutely everything and have for years. Even drive to fucking Walmart to drop off plastic bags.

[marmar]

5. I figured no one could answer always...

but I guess I was wrong. :hi:

[stop the bleeding]

23. I recycle everything as well and what is natural

goes outside in the backyard for compost.

All in all, very little actual garbage goes out of our house.

I am amazed week after week as far as what we put out vs our neighbor's amount of garbage/not recycling.

I was looking for an always as well.

[Lorien]

6. Pretty much always

our community provides recycles bins for paper, plastic, glass, tins, etc. and I recycle everything that I can think to recycle. I also pick up usable clothing, furniture, and other items that are left by the curb on trash day. People will throw out perfectly good dining sets or whole wardrobes of children's clothing without thinking twice. I wash them, take them to Goodwill then take the tax deduction at the end of the year. The world's resources are running out fast; if we aren't part of the solution, we are the problem.

[marmar]

8. "if we aren't part of the solution, we are the problem."

So true and it's something I truly believe. I've just got to get better about being part of the solution.

[rucky]

7. I used to live in Oregon...

where they look at you funny if you don't recycle.

Now I live in Ohio, where they look at you funny if you do recycle. Sadly, there's not a whole lot of options here. My neighbors are just-a-looking for an excuse to complain about my compost dome, though.

[marmar]

9. "where they look at you funny if you do recycle."

LOL. Funny, in a tragic sort of way. :) :(

[MrSlayer]

10. Cans, bottles and paper get picked up bi-weekly here.

No reason not to. I wish they would start picking up plastic too.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

26. plastics are the worst

as far as they are concerned. You have to have a lot of space to dump them, and baling them is a bitch. If you have a shredder on site it works better, but the transport costs for such light loads makes it almost impossible, in the end you get a check for less than it costs to handle it. :(

[MrSlayer]

31. Thats really too bad.

You see those plastic water bottles laying all over the place and they aren't going to degrade anytime soon. Recycling those should be a priority.

[LeftyMom]

11. As often as possible

We have curbside pickup here, which is nice. I need to order another container though, ours is frequently overfull and I can't count on the neighbors letting me add stuff to thiers all the time.

The only thing we dont have a recycling option for here is the paperboard containers used for soy milk. I'd prefer to recycle them but the nearest place to so so that I know of is in San Jose, and driving three hours would be rediculous, as would the smell off of enough hefty bags of smushed up soy milk boxes to justify the trip.

[conflictgirl]

18. In that case, I think the oil used in the travel would offset the benefits

Driving 3 hours to recycle something is obviously not a smart option, as it sounds like you've figured out. We can't recycle similar types of containers here either. :(

I would recycle more if I could get a second recycling bin. There's an extra charge to get a second bin and we can't afford it right now, but maybe once my husband finally gets a job...

I think it's awful that it costs us money to recycle. It seems like a lot of communities have policies that discourage people from recycling, even when it's available.

[LeftyMom]

22. An extra recycling or green waste bin is free here, only the trash bin is

an extra charge.

Yeah, there'd be no benefit in driving the soymilk boxes clear to San Jose unless I was already heading that direction, which isn't something I have to do often. Thankfully, it's a long drive and the traffic is pretty much always nasty.

[demosincebirth]

12. Hell, I save aluminum cans and bottles and

every couple of months I take the cans to the recycle (1.50lb) and bottles I get the recycling fee back. Thirty bucks every couple of month almost pays for my poker night.

Our city tries to recycle everything...even our wet garbage and lawn and tree trimmings are recycled
into compost and sold or given away, already bagged, to our local citizens.

[TahitiNut]

20. I miss the Bay Area.

:cry:

[demosincebirth]

35. I know, I wouldn't live any other place.

[Pavulon]

14. Diebold (no vote) I recycle

regularly. It is a pain because there is no curbside but it is the right thing to do.

[Sherman A1]

15. As much as possible

Our city has a recycling center not too far from the house. They take, cans, some plastics, cardboard, newspapers, magazines and office paper. Always try to make a drop off en-route to somewhere else on the errand runs. Local grocery stores recycle bags. It's reduced my trash to about 25 - 30% of previous amounts. Converting the old and still running lawn mower with a mulching kit, made a huge difference as well.

[GDAEx2]

16. Retreive recyclables out of garbage cans

I carry a plastic grocery bag in my courier bag for picking up recyclable material off the street.
The other day ( a rare day I wasn't on the bus) some kid threw a plastic bottle out of his car at a stop light. I jammed my car into park, got out, and shoved it back through his window. He reached out and punched me in the nose and took off!
I didn't really mind and laughed all the way to work.
Needed to get this off my chest. Thanks.

:blush:

[never_get_over_it]

17. When I was in Northern VA

I recycled everything I could - glass - plastic - cans - magazines - cardboard - plain paper - newspaper

But here in very backward FL I can't find a place to recycle plain paper which with junk mail and stuff is a lot - actually for me probably the majority. Sometimes I get so discouraged I just throw the cardboard away - I really have to stop that - but honestly down here it feels like I'm just spitting in the ocean with little impact - Northern VA had huge recycling areas plus curb side - here we have curb side and one dinky cardboard recepticle and one dinky magazine recepticle - very discouraging. Oh and they did have a place for old phone books - but why not plain paper I don't get it

[Viva_La_Revolution]

30. different grades of paper are worth more.

a full load of newsprint (phonebooks) is about 3 times as much as a 'mix' load.

Mix loads have to be sorted, white paper, newspaper, 'colored' (junk mail, high ink printings). it takes 3 guys 2 hours to sort one semi-truck load.

The phone books are 99% newsprint, so no sorting before recycling. It goes straight to the mill.

Especially in rural areas, it's hard to keep a center going. My hometown is trying, with volunteer labor, but the transport costs are sometimes more than the sell price. :(

[MH1]

19. I take canvas bags to the grocery store

Almost every trip, anyway.

I still end up with enough plastic bags (newspaper wrappers, other stores) that I still have to take THOSE to the grocery store, to recyle, too.

And of course the curbside recycling. (But someone swiped my paper bin last week, sigh. Or maybe a neighbor grabbed it because of the wind and has just forgotten to give it back.)

[marmar]

25. I noticed that a lot in Germany...

It seemed that most people brought their own canvass bags to the grocery store with them. Only me, the wasteful American tourist, requested a plastic bag.

[MH1]

38. "Plastic or paper" - the false choice

Canvas bags are MUCH better than either "plastic or paper" - and not just for the environment. They hold more, they don't break, and you can choose the message you want printed on the bag.

[bigwillq]

27. Almost always (nt)

[Gabi Hayes]

29. one can for plastics/glass/metal, one for newspapers, one for

trash.

our condo "requires" it

very much a habit; a painless one, at that

used to have to bundle up newspapers and drive to a recycling station

[pitohui]

32. we pay for service but they haven't picked up the bin in years

i conclude that it is a kickback or scam for the waste removal company

[Zorra]

33. I recently manipulated a small non-profit corporation into making

a community service recycling gig a major part of their program.
;-)

[Viva_La_Revolution]

34. good work!!

:applause:

[politicat]

36. For the things we can recycle, we do.

Eco-cycle takes most paper products, 1,2 and 5 plastics, glass, metals, and block styro. We recycle all the big stuff we can (like appliances and sheet metal) and I compost 85% of our vegetable waste products because it makes my garden really happy.

We can't recycle other plastics, so those go away.

We do a lot of reduction (precycling) as well.

[alfredo]

37. I do the standard glass paper plastic metal, but I also

compost vegetable matter. In the fall I spread the compost over the back yard and seed the lawn. The front lawn just gets compost tea. I seeded in the fall, patch in the spring. The grass is so thick weeds are crowded out.

The ground hog loves the fact that I compost.

[spinbaby]

39. We don't have community recycling

But there's an ARC nearby that does recycling and we take them a load of stuff every time we're in that direction. They take #1 and #2 plastic, cans of all kinds, glass, and newspaper. We also have a compost pile.

[Rosemary2205]

40. I had to give up most recycling.

I take the plastic grocery bags back to publix. I drop the aluminum off at the fire station and I take the newspapers to the church bin. I had to give up composting the veggie waste because I was collecting rats.

No trash pickup in my area has recycling.

[marmar]

42. "had to give up composting the veggie waste because I was collecting rats"

Yikes! :scared:

[ellie]

41. We always recycle

Kroger has recycling bins and every couple of weeks we empty our bins. I would feel too guilty if I didn't recycle.