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Do you recycle?

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by genuinemommy, Sep 23, 2018.

  1. genuinemommy

    genuinemommy Moderator Staff Member

    Is recycling standard where you live?
    Do you recycle?
    Do those in your community seem to prioritize recycling?
    Do you think that recycling is overall a good thing, or a bad thing?

    This series of questions came up elsewhere recently and I was a little taken aback by some of the responses that I read. People in Russia, for instance, unanimously replied that there was no recycling effort in their area and that they didn't realize that recycling alongside garbage pickup was so common elsewhere.

    What about you? Is it easy to recycle where you live?
     
  2. PonyPotato

    PonyPotato Very Tilted

    Location:
    Columbus, OH
    Recycling is not necessarily "standard," but it is common where I live. I do recycle - everything the local service will take goes into our recycling bin, which is filled far beyond the amount of trash we produce during the same time period. It will even farther outweigh the trash when we start our composting again. My husband frequently argues with me regarding recycling, calling it pointless and a waste of time, but he does still save items to recycle when I get on his case. I've won that fight so far. I just wish more items were packaged in materials that are a) more reusable (glass), b) recyclable (certain types of plastics, cardboard, paper) rather than material that ends up in landfills.

    It bothers me a lot that my employer does not offer recycling at work. So much paper and cardboard that ends up in the trash. We had a recycling bin in our employee lounge/lunch room at one point in time, but it turns out that an employee brought it in and was taking the recycling home herself to put in her own recycling bin because work didn't offer it. She changed locations and now we don't recycle anything at work. I take reusable/washable containers and avoid any disposable packaging personally, but frozen meals and dinners are a pain in the ass for how much trash they produce.

    I do think that recycling as a whole would be better to avoid altogether - better biodegradable packaging and materials, reusable materials, or recycling by taking those reusable materials to refill with bulk products at the store or take back to the producer directly to reuse to package the same material, rather than go through a lot of energy-heavy processing to be made into something else. I think it's a good thing for reducing the amounts of trash that end up in landfills or the ocean, but it is not the best system we could come up with. I would love to see styrofoam become obsolete (it can't be recycled, it can't be reused) and more glass used for everyday products.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  3. Lindy

    Lindy Moderator Staff Member

    Location:
    Nebraska
    Is recycling standard where you live?
    Not quite sure what "standard" means, but it's available through several options. I pay an extra $11 to my refuse hauler for a separate barrel and pickup for - they call it "single stream" recycling. That means we don't have to sort types of recyclables, just toss 'em in the big green barrel and take it out to the curb every Wednesday night.:) They take plastics #1 to #7, but they don't take glass or plastic film (bags.) They take newspaper, slick paper, office paper... but not shredded paper, which is a PITA. I save plastic bags in the kitchen and drop them at any one of several retailers. (Lowe's, Hy-Vee, Russ's Market, Menards)
    Do you recycle?
    Yes. I also try to re-use where possible. I re-use plastic grocery bags and newspaper bags as food bags in the fridge. I re-use paper grocery bags to hold shredded paper pending recycling. Glass jars/bottles can be great for spices, flour, oatmeal, bulgar, etc. I save padded envelopes and small cardboard boxes for when I need to ship something. Tree branches go into the fireplace or woodstove, when possible. I cook, and am pretty diligent about using left-overs (instead of letting them rot in the fridge.)
    Do those in your community seem to prioritize recycling?
    City government is big on it. They recently outlawed corrugated cardboard in the city landfill. But they take pizza boxes, but only if they're greasy enough.:rolleyes: They're talking about putting a tax on styro food and beverage containers. There are about a dozen well maintained and frequently collected free recycling centers scattered about town, including one only a few blocks from me. That's where I take the glass and shredded paper the my recycler won't take.
    Do you think that recycling is overall a good thing, or a bad thing?
    Overall, it's good, but still better not to generate the waste in the first place. I'm big on buying used stuff instead of new. I have two computers that I bought used. Office equipment too. Revere Ware pots and pans from the 1950s. Electronics and high-end stereo speakers. (I'm a speaker junky.) I could easily afford to, but I've never bought a new car. I play a string bass that was made in 1964. Liking used stuff is one of the things that attracted my BF and I to each other.:) We're both frugal, if not downright cheap.
    What about you? Is it easy to recycle where you live?
    It is easy, though somewhat of a PITA. Less so once we got into the habit. Last year I paid about $130 for recycling service. A bargain.
     
  4. redravin

    redravin Cynical Optimist Donor

    Location:
    North
    I did when I was in NJ.
    They had regular pickup, we had separate buckets for each item.
    I even had a little composting in the back yard for a while.
    In Alaska there is no recycling process because it would all have to be shipped outside and at that point the cost wouldn't be feasible, so everything goes in a landfill.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  5. Stan

    Stan Resident Dumbass

    Location:
    Colorado
    I live in the sticks, recycling is possible; but I try to use common sense, too. I have to haul recycling about 15 miles to drop it off (does burning a gallon of diesel hurt the environment more than I'm helping by recycling?).

    Glass is problematic here. The raw materials are cheap, the cost of remelting glass is nearly the same as creating new, and it's heavy as hell. I don't do glass. Everything else gets taken to the dropoff point.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  6. ralphie250

    ralphie250 Fully Erect Donor

    Location:
    At work..
    Is recycling standard where you live?
    No
    Do you recycle?
    No
    Do those in your community seem to prioritize recycling?
    No
    Do you think that recycling is overall a good thing, or a bad thing?
    I think it is a good thing.
    as @Stan stated if I wanted to recycle I would have to drive about 15 or 20 miles to drop it off. should I be more proactive about recycling? yes I should, but maybe im just lazy and don't want to deal with it. that's about as honest as it gets
     
  7. rogue49

    rogue49 Tech Kung Fu Artist Staff Member

    Location:
    Baltimore/DC
    Rarely.

    It's a good thing, but it's just not in my mindset.
    I'll do it at a restaurant.

    But my complex doesn't make it convenient.
    And the recycle bins are usually overfilled with regular trash from ignorant or lazy people.

    I do my part by getting the damn compactor to start and shove down the garbage.
    People are just too damn lazy.
     
  8. DAKA

    DAKA DOING VERY NICELY, THANK YOU

    At our condo complex...12 townhouses...I recycle...most others are either too lazy or stupid...
    I have given up on trying to get 12 fucking jackasses to separate the glass, aluminum and newspaper...
    Do what you can...
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  9. Cubby

    Cubby Vertical

    Yep we recycle. Collect our cans and bottles for the deposit money (for the kids). For most of the rest we can recycle plastics, glass, metal, cardboard, paper, etc. We also have an organics pickup although I need to work on using that more..still too used to throwing it in the garbage.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  10. Frankie

    Frankie Slightly Tilted

    Location:
    New England
    Of course I only wish the city would expand the recycling program.
     
  11. ASU2003

    ASU2003 Very Tilted

    Location:
    Where ever I roam
    Yes I recycle. But I also try to reduce the amount of trash I create in the first place by not being really wasteful. (Probably due to how I grew up. Is it still a thing to have parents yell at kids for leaving the lights or TV on when they aren't in the room, or are they so cheap and efficient it doesn't matter?)

    Our county takes newspapers, electronics, and batteries. We now have curbside recycling that takes cardboard, plastic, metal, and paper. I just wish they would take Styrofoam. I would think that the small peanuts could be reused and the bigger pieces made into home insulation.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  12. Charlatan

    Charlatan sous les pavés, la plage

    Location:
    Temasek
    What should happen is laws should be instituted to mandate reusable containers. Fuck convenience of disposable packaging. We need to revert to some of the ways things were packaged in the past that encourage refillable packages.

    Where the market is slow to act, regulation can create an imperative to change.
     
  13. ASU2003

    ASU2003 Very Tilted

    Location:
    Where ever I roam
    This company looks like one to watch. Especially if Amazon and the other grocery shopping programs get involved, and distribution and refilling happens in nearby cities.
    How to solve the world’s plastics problem: Bring back the milk man
     
    • Like Like x 1
  14. DAKA

    DAKA DOING VERY NICELY, THANK YOU

    Yeah, and bring back the Milk Man....Seltzer delivery