How to Cope with Family Who Won’t Recycle
Jan 8, 2010 Recycling
Keeping the recyclables out of the trash in some homes can be as difficult as keeping the trash out of the recyclables. Some people really just don’t care, even when it’s as easy as picking which of two bins, trash or recycling, their discards go in.
When you have things set up, that can be quite frustrating.
My family in general is pretty good, although my oldest of late has taken to accidentally throwing food into the recycle bin rather than the trash. So much of what she throws out can be recycled that I think it’s almost a reflex to pick that bin. I don’t think it’s a rebellion.
But it did get me thinking about how to cope with people who don’t want to recycle even when it’s easy.
Talk About It
The first step is the simplest and sometimes it even works. Just talk about the issue. Talk about what gets recycled in your area. Talk about why it matters to you.
Ask why they don’t recycle. Ask if there’s anything you can do to encourage them to recycle.
Make Sure It’s Convenient
You can cut down on excuses if recycling is as convenient as throwing out trash. It won’t stop everything, but it can help.
The kitchen is the most obvious place to have a trash can and recycle bin side by side. But any other room where you find there to be a problem, consider adding in a recycle bin.
If people print at the computer a lot, for example, you need a recycle bin there for any wasted paper. It happens. If you only have a trash can there, that’s what will be used. A convenient recycle bin can be a huge help.
Put In Some Extra Effort
If just talking about it doesn’t make any changes, put in a little extra effort yourself and make sure they know that you’re doing it. Pull their recyclables from the trash and put them in the recycle bin. Be upfront that you don’t like the inconvenience of having to do so. Keep your comments appropriate to whoever you’re having the issue with, of course.
Try “An Inconvenient Truth”
Watching “An Inconvenient Truth
It’s either get them thinking or arguing. If you want to change someone’s mind sometimes that’s what you need.
The 3 Rs with a Baby, Part 3: Recycle
Feb 25, 2009 Eco Friendly Parenting, Recycling
Just as in the rest of life, recycling that which you can’t reuse is important. If you’re good at reducing and reusing, you can cut down the need, but odds are you’re going to have to recycle a fair number of items.
Recycle
Perhaps the most obvious thing you can recycle with a baby would be the baby food jars. That glass is so easily recycled is one of the reasons aside from BPA concerns to choose glass jars when you buy baby food. Of course, if you’re making your own baby food you won’t have a lot of jars to recycle. But there are times for most parents when jarred food is a simpler choice.
There’s also a site called BabyEarth.com that offers recycling of those things you don’t feel are worth reusing. I haven’t tried it, but the plan looks good. They break the goods apart and send them for appropriate recycling. If something is, in their opinion, still usable, they’ll donate it for a family to use.
Office Store Recycling Services
Feb 4, 2009 Recycling
Did you know that some office supply stores do recycling for you? Both Office Depot and Staples have recycling programs. You may be familiar with the various ink and toner cartridge recycling programs, but more is available.
You will sometimes have to pay for it, though. But for electronic waste recycling that’s not all that bad a thing, so long as you are certain that the recycling is done correctly.
Office Depot, for example, sells boxes in their stores for you to put your old electronics in. They do all their recycling in the USA, which takes care of one of the big concerns of tech recycling. Too often it’s done wrong. They have a PDF of acceptable products.
Also important, they carry a lot of products with recycled content.
Staples also recycles ink and toner cartridges, computers, monitors, cell phones and more. And of course recycled content products.
It’s good to see companies that are working on offering both green products and services. Most of us come up with quite a bit of electronic waste that is just not that easy to recycle other ways. Even if you have to pay to recycle them, it’s good to have a way to get rid of old electronics properly.
Tags: tech recycling
Brita + Preserve = Pitcher Filter Recycling in 2009
Nov 18, 2008 Eco Friendly Home, Environmental News, Environmentally Friendly, Recycling
Take Back the Filter has a great announcement up right now – Brita has partnered with Preserve so that the Brita Pitcher filters can be recycled starting in January 2009. You can read the entire PDF press release here.
I’m quite delighted, and hopeful that this includes their Brita On Tap filters, as that’s what I have. The release doesn’t mention them at all.
It’s a pretty nice deal. If there’s a Whole Foods near you, there will be a place for you to drop your filters off. Otherwise, you can just mail them in.
While I’m disappointed that my filter isn’t listed as included yet, it’s a nice first step. If the lack of recycling for filters has held you back from buying a Brita pitcher
I’m also thinking this could make for a nice combination for Christmas presents if you know anyone still buying bottled water. Get them a Brita pitcher and a reusable bottle (maybe more, depending on family size), with a note about recycling the pitcher filters. Might just work for those who make excuses about their tap water quality.
Tags: brita, preserve, Recycling, water filters
Are You Recycling Right? What About Reusing?
Nov 14, 2008 Environmental News, Recycling
November 15 is America Recycles Day. It’s a nice concept, but as this article on TreeHugger points out, not quite perfect.
Recycling, quite simply, is not always the answer. Using reusable containers is a better solution whenever it’s practical. The article doesn’t really get into the times when recycling really is the best option, however. There’s only so much paper you can reuse, even with children all too interested in doing crafts.
But when you’re talking about drink containers, reusable is a great idea. That’s why buying reusable bottles is so encouraged, rather than buying bottled water.
It’s more difficult with a lot of other drinks. In my area I can save a lot by buying milk in gallons rather than half gallons. The cartons are more recyclable, of course, but the gallon jugs are at least #2 plastic, and so reasonably recyclable.
The challenge with putting larger quantities of milk into something more reusable or recyclable is that they would probably end up heavier. Glass bottles are great for reusing or recycling, but they’re HEAVY in comparison with plastic or cartons.
Then again, I have read about the new milk jugs Walmart has been distributing since earlier this year. They’re more efficient for storage and transportation. Reusable would be nice, but we can’t have everything every time.
The part we as consumers need to look at, of course, is whether we can encourage more reusable containers where recyclable ones are now preferred. We also need to consider how these containers get back for refills. Should they just go in with the current recyclables for convenience, and then be shipped from a central point? Will enough people bring back reusable containers even to get a deposit back?
It’s rarely so simple a question. But we need an answer.
For now, when you shop, think about not just recyclable containers, but reusable as well. They don’t have to be reused by you, but there’s a reason why reuse is more important than recycle.
Tags: containers, recycle, reuse
