Deleted
Joined: Jun 17, 2024 23:03:02 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2013 8:07:23 GMT -5
We recycle. As part of our town taxes we get a garbage bin and a recycle bin. They are both the same size and our recycle bin is always packed full and our garbage bin barely has anything in it.
|
|
garion2003
Familiar Member
Joined: Feb 20, 2011 15:48:25 GMT -5
Posts: 757
|
Post by garion2003 on Mar 7, 2013 9:21:24 GMT -5
Well you ARE throwing money away. And if you have the redemption machines at work, is it that much more effort to put the bottles in a bag in the car? I save mine up in a trash bag or two and can walk away with $10 or more for about 10 minutes effort.
|
|
sheilaincali
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 19, 2010 17:55:24 GMT -5
Posts: 4,131
|
Post by sheilaincali on Mar 7, 2013 9:49:58 GMT -5
In Minnesota we don't pay a deposit for bottles or things and unless you bag up your soda cans and drive them to the metal recycling place there is no financial incentive to recycle. The city does have a recyle bin that we can set out with our trash bin. The recycling bin is small like fits two paper grocery bags side by side in it. Our recycling is always much fuller than our garbage container. It's co-mingled so we don't have to seperate. For yard waste you have to load it up and haul it to the Dem Fill and drop it off. Free for residents. They turn it into mulch and compost that you can buy back from them. I always wonder what my neighbors think of us. When we have Board Game Night at our house there is always one paper bag overflowing with empty wine bottles in it out by recycling
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Jun 17, 2024 23:03:02 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2013 11:40:24 GMT -5
I'm in Oregon too and we have green waste, trash, recycling, and glass bins.
SK - how are you composting? I'm meaning to get into it.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Jun 17, 2024 23:03:02 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2013 12:01:11 GMT -5
We have a 55 gallon bin for recyclables that the city collects every two weeks. We can mix all plastic, tin, paper, glass and aluminum together, so it's easy. We keep aluminum separate though and sell that by the pound. I think right now we have about 12 huge garbage bags full...time to make a run.
|
|
whoami
Well-Known Member
Joined: Jan 8, 2011 12:43:49 GMT -5
Posts: 1,292
|
Post by whoami on Mar 7, 2013 12:39:32 GMT -5
We have a recycling bin in addition to our regular trash bin that is provided by the city. Its picked up every week just like the trash. Its always full on trash day.
|
|
Formerly SK
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 27, 2011 14:23:13 GMT -5
Posts: 3,255
|
Post by Formerly SK on Mar 7, 2013 14:16:51 GMT -5
I'm in Oregon too and we have green waste, trash, recycling, and glass bins. SK - how are you composting? I'm meaning to get into it. We started with a single bin (think large garbage can size) but after a year we switched to a three-bin system like this: seattletilth.org/learn/resources-1/compost/woodwire3bin.pdfDH and I built it ourselves 1.5 years ago. It works great. We keep a plastic tub on our kitchen counter. I'd say we fill it every 2 days or so and I just take it to the backyard and it in the compost bin. We are what you call "lazy composters" meaning we don't rotate our compost a ton (ever ). When one bin fills up we just transfer it to the next bin over and start filling the now empty bin again. As we rotate through by the time the stuff gets through the third bin it is compost and we just throw it in the yard. Obviously if you have more matter to dispose of, you can rotate the compost more as turning it speeds up decomposition. You want a 50/50 ratio of greens/browns but I'm pretty unscientific with it. If it looks like we have too many greens, I throw some shredded paper/toilet paper rolls in. If it is looking more balanced I throw that stuff in the recycling bin. I used to teach with the Master Composter Recycler program for my county and I know there is a program in your area. If you contact them they will totally hook you up with info.
|
|
Tiny
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 29, 2010 21:22:34 GMT -5
Posts: 13,386
|
Post by Tiny on Mar 7, 2013 14:31:42 GMT -5
We also don't pay a deposit in NJ. I really don't have too much to recycle, or regular garbage either. I hate making garbage. I only drink water (tap) and coffee, so I have about 2 coffee cans per month to recycle. No paper or plastic, as in packaging? No metal, as in tin cans? It's impossible to only have two coffee cans to recycle in a month. ....unless you only go home to sleep and drink coffee. Black. LOL! I was thinking the same thing... not as a criticism but more of as a "Wow! I wish I could get away with that!" - I had an epiphany about 10 years ago when I noticed that it seemed like I was tossing out huge amounts of 'trash' and was annoyed over how much time it was consuming. Got me looking at figuring out how to get the junk mail to stop (the reccession and email seems to have finally solved this problem - as I now have mail free days during the week ) and to actually looking at what I was throwing away - and why it had even gotten into my house if all I was gonna do with it was toss it out. I also got curious about my City's recycling program and discovered that I could put alot more stuff (plastic egg cartons, plastic trays under veggies and meats, some types of plastic bags, and any sort of non-waxed cardboard - tissue boxes, toilet paper/paper towel tubes, etc...) in the recycle bin. At this point, my recycle bin is generally fuller than my 'trash' bin on the weekly Trash Day pickups. We use to have a small green open bin for recycleables - but now we've all be given a big lidded wheeled cart (just as big as the Trash lidded wheeled cart) for recycleables. I still feel there's too much stuff coming into my house every week that just gets tossed out at the end of the week... if I could figure out a way to make that stop (and still be able to eat) it would make me very happy.
|
|
Tiny
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 29, 2010 21:22:34 GMT -5
Posts: 13,386
|
Post by Tiny on Mar 7, 2013 14:36:17 GMT -5
Does anyone have any statistics for the success of mixed together recycle-ables? I wonder how much of the 'paper' becomes unrecycleable when it get contaminated with stuff from the jars/cans/etc... You are suppose to rinse out the recycleables but I have a sneaking suspicion that most people don't bother (or rather do a half assed job of it).
|
|
sheilaincali
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 19, 2010 17:55:24 GMT -5
Posts: 4,131
|
Post by sheilaincali on Mar 7, 2013 14:59:22 GMT -5
Tiny Speck- I have been wondering that myself. We have co-mingled and I rinse things out but I really do wonder how much they end up calling "contaiminated" and just ship it to the . I'd hate to think that what I was recycling was really ending up at a landfill.
|
|
lexxy703
Senior Associate
Joined: Aug 26, 2011 13:52:17 GMT -5
Posts: 13,771
|
Post by lexxy703 on Mar 7, 2013 15:04:17 GMT -5
I recycle everything I can. We get a trash dumpster & a mini dumpster for recycling. It should be the opposite. My recycle fills up much faster than my trash.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Jun 17, 2024 23:03:02 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2013 17:02:10 GMT -5
We saved up for 8 months, filling the spare room in our garage. Turned them all in for.....$21.. Not worth the time, effort, and space. We still recycle all that of course, just at the curb weekly.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Jun 17, 2024 23:03:02 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2013 17:08:15 GMT -5
Thanks for the links SK - I think I spoke to someone from the Master Recycler program at the Clark County Fair last year. Should have followed through!
|
|
teen persuasion
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 21:58:49 GMT -5
Posts: 4,070
|
Post by teen persuasion on Mar 7, 2013 20:53:02 GMT -5
We return any bottles and cans for the deposits. I still don't understand why only carbonated beverage cans have deposits on them; things like lemonade and iced tea are exempt. Same cans - must be a stupid loophole.
Our town just changed the recycle system - they issued everyone big recycle cans (to replace smaller open totes) and now pick up recycle every two weeks, but garbage pick up remains every week. We also have lots more recycling than garbage - we used to have to open and collapse all cereal boxes, nest cans, wedge milk jugs in tightly and put the paper bag on top of the smaller totes.
I can't quite figure out what the garbage/recycling company is doing; they change their routine and equipment so frequently. First, they had one truck w/ 3 guys for garbage (one to drive, one to go to each side of the street for cans), and a different truck for recycling, one guy. Then for cost cutting, they went down to 2 guys (one driving, one picking up), then one guy did everything (slower) but did only one side of the street, so double the routes! Last year, they got all new trucks that were divided and they picked up both garbage and recycling at the same time, and are back to 2 guys, but still only one side of the street. Now the new system has them back to 2 different trucks, and the new recycle trucks have to have the lift for the big cans. Changing your equipment every 6 months or so has got to be expensive.
|
|
Nazgul Girl
Junior Associate
Babysitting our new grandbaby 3 days a week !
Joined: Dec 25, 2010 23:25:02 GMT -5
Posts: 5,913
Today's Mood: excellent
|
Post by Nazgul Girl on Mar 8, 2013 9:14:40 GMT -5
We recycle, but our city made it easy and convenient for us. So far, we have recycled 1592 lbs of stuff. That's pretty good for a couple that wasn't too green not so long ago. We just put it all in a big blue recycle bin, and wheel it out to the curb every two weeks. The pick-up truck actually weighs it on the spot, and it's uploaded to our rewards bank at recyclebank.com.
This thread made me go check the points that we had accumulated on recyclebank.com. It turned out that we had a whopping 2100 points. I couldn't believe it. I like rewards of "things" rather than coupons, because to me, the coupons just make me spend more money to redeem them. I was able to get certificates for 3 gallons of milk and 2 heads of lettuce at a local grocery store, a one-year membership to pogo.com ( game site ) for me, and a 9 month renewal of membership for my DH on pogo.com.
For a series of treks out to the garage with plastic grocery bags full of recycleables ( we don't have to sort under this program ), the savings added up to $ 85. Prety good.
|
|
cottoncandyclouds
Established Member
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.
Joined: Jul 25, 2011 18:15:52 GMT -5
Posts: 379
|
Post by cottoncandyclouds on Mar 11, 2013 11:56:56 GMT -5
We recycle. As part of our town taxes we get a garbage bin and a recycle bin. They are both the same size and our recycle bin is always packed full and our garbage bin barely has anything in it.
|
|
kittensaver
Junior Associate
We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love. - Mother Teresa
Joined: Nov 22, 2011 16:16:36 GMT -5
Posts: 7,983
|
Post by kittensaver on Mar 11, 2013 14:08:44 GMT -5
Like mollymouser and some other folks, I live in a region with an aggressive recycling program. Maybe a decade ago (?), the State started charging cities and municipalities very hefty fees for dumping in landfill. The only way to reduce the cost was to reduce the waste-stream, so the programs got going. The city gives us (free of charge) three trashcan-sized rolling bins: one for recyclables, one for greenwaste/yardwaste and one for trash. Like others, our trash bin now has the smallest amount of "stuff" each week. Just about the only things the recyclables bin won't take are styrofoam , and food-contaminated aluminum foil. Cans, bottles, jars, asceptic boxes, all kinds of clean paper, cardboard, aluminum, scrap metal, all kinds of plastics: into the blue bin they go. BUT we still collect up our bottles with a container fee and return them to get our money back. The city will take them in the blue bin, but we stopped doing it because we got tired of trash pickers rifling through our bins and leaving a mess behind .
|
|
kittensaver
Junior Associate
We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love. - Mother Teresa
Joined: Nov 22, 2011 16:16:36 GMT -5
Posts: 7,983
|
Post by kittensaver on Mar 11, 2013 14:13:56 GMT -5
Hey Carl! If you don't feel like gathering up and returning bottles after your game, howzabout being a good sport and lining them up somewhere or tossing them all in a trash bag so some homeless person can come along and recycle them for you??
|
|