Recycling - do you bother, how much? (Poll)

[adi77]

we separate the trash in 2 bins, try to reuse old plastic bags.. every 2 months a man comes and buys all the newspapers, magazines and used bottles in the house at a per KG rate.. recycling is big where i live and very little gets wasted

 

[Polfuste]

composting for food rest (vegetables, fruits, egg .. ), paper plastic and cardboard in special bin.
then all metal, oils, printer ink, lights, garden waste (except some grass i add in the compost, but a little) , glass, batteries, old tv and kitchen electrostuff, i carry it myself to a recycling center.
but no, i'm not a hippie

 

[chungweishan]

San Diego has those giant recycle trashcans. So I use those. I honestly don't care about recycling, but it's there so I use it.

I re-use plastic grocery bags, but it's ironically used for my bedroom trashcan which inevitably ends up in the normal garbage bin. I don't do compost.

I have trashbags full of empty water bottles which I'll take to a recycling center someday. Probably get enough money to buy extra guitar picks.

 

[bigboy_78]

I recycle about 95%. In the UK the local councils (that's us the rate payers) get hit with a tax if they don't achieve 65%.
We have 3 bins,
1 - Food and Garden waste, inc. hedge trimmings - anything that will compost
2 - Paper, cardboard, glass, most plastics, aluminium foil
3 - Anything not covered in 1 & 2, - packaging film, expanded polystyrene

Same set- up here. 3 bins. If it wasn't easy I wouldn't do it. The extra trucks to collect the extra bins probably cancel out any green benefit anyway.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Where we live, recycling isn't optional, its mandatory. The trash collection company actually weighs the recyclables bin vs the garbage bin. I believe theres a 66/33 rule.

One downside with that is if you lived a paper-free life, didn't buy canned goods, and composted a lot, you wouldn't have anything much to recycle. So you'd have to go to the supermarket and beg cardboard boxes from them to put in the recycling!

 

[DwaynieAD]

where's the "I know 80% of it's going to the land fill even if I put it in the recycle bin" option.

because I know 80% of it is going to the land fill even if I put it in the recycle bin

 

[buldog5151bass]

I'm certainly no tree-hugger, but we do garden. They don't call compost "black gold" for nothing.

 

[edpal]

where's the "I know 80% of it's going to the land fill even if I put it in the recycle bin" option.

because I know 80% of it is going to the land fill even if I put it in the recycle bin

Darn, you spoiled(kidding) my planned 13th hour post. One of my kids told me that after visiting a recycling place - I found it hard to believe. Then I met guy at bbq who worked for Waste Management Co. - he told me same thing. According to him paper is most likely to actually be recycled, glass is least. Plastic varies by price of oil at time and demand - but they dump all the plastic in the same area, in case there is a price spike and they want to dig it back up. Batteries that get set aside generally get recycled for the various metals. I do watch repair and I get $30/lb for my old silver-oxide button cells...a 20 oz. water bottle full is about $65-70 worth. But that's 300+ batteries, about 2 months worth during my busy season.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Ed

Here is a question for you. The guys at my landfill do a thoriugh job with the recycling, but other than car batteries, they say to just toss the spent AA etc batteries in the regular trash. Any ideas why?

 

[nukes_da_bass]

Glass plastic and cardboard definitely.

 

[edpal]

Ed

Here is a question for you. The guys at my landfill do a thoriugh job with the recycling, but other than car batteries, they say to just toss the spent AA etc batteries in the regular trash. Any ideas why?

Modern alkaline batteries, now that they aren't using any mercury are pretty benign and don't contain anything that would be economical to recycle. Ni-cads SHOULD be recycled, the cadium in particular accumulates in animals further up the food chain -which would be us. Silver-oxide button cells are only recycled because of the silver, which is easy to obtain. Crush gently,run some acid in to get the silver into solution, add a base (alkaline) element and let the silver hit the floor(referred to as drop-out). Basically the same way we reclaim gold scrap.

Maybe as more litium batteries get tossed more lithium will get into the environment - will we all be happier?

 

[Darth Handsome]

I was visited by my oldest sister a few weeks ago - chick drove us nuts. Pro tree-hugger with street cred, arrested for blocking a mining operation!! We recycle a lot but not enough for "Rose". Finally had to tell her to quit dumpster diving in our kitchen can. We separate out all dry paper, plastics, metals. Anything that was ever alive(food stuffs, soggy paperplates,coffee grounds,etc) goes into composting outside - we have (2) 100 gallon composters. How about you - how do you trash your trash?

What's her phone number?

 

[edpal]

What's her phone number?

That's a stupid question - no real tree-hugger owns a phone. Strictly recycled string and tin cans.

 

[Darth Handsome]

That's a stupid question - no real tree-hugger owns a phone. Strictly recycled string and tin cans.

I like her already.

 

[Bloodhammer]

where's the "I know 80% of it's going to the land fill even if I put it in the recycle bin" option.

because I know 80% of it is going to the land fill even if I put it in the recycle bin

Landfills are carbon sinks. Better than dumping it in the ocean.

 

[toothbrush]

Where we live, recycling isn't optional, its mandatory. The trash collection company actually weighs the recyclables bin vs the garbage bin. I believe theres a 66/33 rule. Or maybe is 75/25.... Anyways,, theres a minimum percentage of garbage-to-recyclables ratio that is strictly enforced. If you fail to meet the minimum standards they (the collection company) fine the City! And then you get a nasty-gram from the City. They have a special "remedial process" to encourage compliance with regulations. I'm serious.

Wow, holy crap! That's incredible...I'm surprised the city legitimately gets fined for this. Unreal. Sounds like your place of residence runs a tight ship!

 

[Darth Handsome]

Wow, holy crap! That's incredible...I'm surprised the city legitimately gets fined for this. Unreal. Sounds like your place of residence runs a tight ship!

"Toothbrush"?

Edit: Always remember who gave you your first like.

 

[bass12]

I recycle as much as possible and have a hard time throwing things like bottles or cans in the garbage (I'll usually hang on to something until I've found a recycling bin if I can). I honestly don't know if it does the world any good but I figure it's the least I can do.

 

[elgecko]

I recycle quite a bit but don't really have the room to compost. I would love to though.

 

[ChrisB2]

where's the "I know 80% of it's going to the land fill even if I put it in the recycle bin" option.

because I know 80% of it is going to the land fill even if I put it in the recycle bin

Ah, but appearing green is sooo much more important than what actually happens to the "recyclables."

I take copper, steel and aluminum to the metal recycling center because they pay for it. The rest is being generously donated to a local community improvement project; were building a mountain.