3 ways to make recycling easy

For the past year I have been trying really hard to increase my recycling efforts, and while I cannot be considered “green” yet, I think I am doing a few things right!

1) One of the simplest things that I did to make recycling a little easier was to get the right “tools”, or in my case, the right bins for organizing my garbage.

When we first started recycling, the first mistake we made was relying on the blue bin as the recycle bin, so we would store the cans and other packaging on the kitchen counter and then take it down at the end of the day. Soon we realized that the counter was filling up and it was somewhat easier to just toss things into the garbage instead! Now, I have a large bin for plastic, glass, and aluminum, then a second small bin for organic waste, and of course my regular garbage bin as well.

You can find a few great solutions at The Bin Company, but make sure that whatever solution you get is one that works for your family and needs.

2) One of the hardest things for me to give up are plastic bags… ideally I would love to have fabric bags when I go grocery shopping, but it’s just not something that I seem to have the discipline for!

I found biodegradable shopping bags which are generally a better choice for collecting your waste than ordinary plastic bags. I also do most of my shopping now at Costco, where they don’t give bags anyways, so that’s actually working out better for me.

3) Most of the waste in our family consists of “organic” waste, you know, fruit and vegetable skins and seeds, Chicken bones, and so on… and I realized some time ago, that I needed a organic waste solution, but I got lucky and our city started a composting program. If you’re thinking of composting, it’s a really great way to reduce your waste, and you can find a lot of different options, including composting start-up kits to get you up and running quickly and easily.

What are you doing to reduce your waste?

Thoughts from Cakes

You give vermicomposting a try! My kids love feeding our worms.  They live in the basement and I swear to you there is no smell at all!

Thoughts from cheryl

First - thanks for your nice words on my blog - second where i live the recycling is HORRIBLE - pathetic would be a better word. I do bring my own bags to the store, which elicits a groan from the bag boy every time. LOL.

Thoughts from sf

We have the same thing in our building and we try hard to be *green* too. I also put diapers in the green bin too, thought I would tell you about that since there is a baby at your home too .