Posted by Snow in 
Recycle bins make recycling clean and easy
I was listening to two women speaking about recycling at the coffeehouse. They were discussing what things they do in the house to recycle. But I did not hear the corresponding efforts towards reducing uses and trying to re-use. In my humble opinion, the efforts of recycling are not just repayable in the dollars and cents in the recycling station credit or the station voucher or readout.
I don’t think it is too soon for the government to start auditing households for recycling worthiness and for simple efforts like sorted trash bins for recycling use, successive use of these bins, and overall area. But the harmonious triptych of re-use and reduction in energy consumption that goes with recycling is often lost in the bustling noise of recycling pointers and top recycling trends.
Citizens and neighbors should be equally comfortable with sorting, re-use, reducing energy and consumption footprints, and employing alternative methods for energy and eating. Family members should be familiar with household rituals posing bags of glass, plastic, and aluminum cans or bottles ready for re-uptake into the economy. Use the symbols in the article on recycling potential per material to decide what to keep and what to toss.
Many neighborhoods still throw away sizeable amounts of glass and aluminum in bulk trash, assuming this can be done afterwards. It can be, but the labor intensive additional effort required plus transport to the landfill reduces the recycling net benefit. If the resident could connect the size of the fees on their association dues statement or sewer services and trash removal line items on their power or water bills, recycling would improve dramatically.
Recycling stations should be available no more than a mile away from residential and suburban neighborhoods. These centers should be easy to operate and open hours with a wide latitude for usage. If the whole point of recycling is to buy local and reduce overland transportation, getting in the car and traveling for an hour to a recycling center is less green than conceptually idealized.
The recycling use should be a normal part of any grocery or shopping trip. If there is not a recycling station near you, petition your local congressperson or district state senator for one. If alternate drivers per block can switch off doing the “recycling run”, so much the better. Making recycling a fun weekly activity of kids can teach a lifetime of green living and sustainability lessons.
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