Who knew? Thursday, November 15 is America Recycles Day.
And because recycle is preceded by "reduce, reuse..." here is a link to opt out of catalog mailings.
At the Zero Waste Home (Béa Johnson is busy writing a book now,
but her past posts are interesting and instructional, and an interview with the family is here),
they've added "refuse" (as in "turn down") and "rot" to bracket the "reduce, reuse, recycle" slogan.
Since reading her info, I've been purchasing more foods from bulk bins, as that cuts down on packaging, whether recyclable or not.
they've added "refuse" (as in "turn down") and "rot" to bracket the "reduce, reuse, recycle" slogan.
Since reading her info, I've been purchasing more foods from bulk bins, as that cuts down on packaging, whether recyclable or not.
Gerrit and I have been recycling-conscious for years, and prior to him needing disposable supplies to deal with incontinence, it took us a month to fill a garbage can.
Now that it's just me (and Oscar), our trash is even less. Because our village has an option to pay for trash with a purchased sticker (as an incentive to recycle for free at the curbside) rather than a flat monthly fee, it's been almost three months since I've put out the trash. When the can is full, I'll put it at the curb with a sticker - but I think I'm still a few weeks away from that.
What are you doing to recycle? Anything to share?
What are you doing to recycle? Anything to share?
Luckily, we have free biweekly curbside recycling and weekly trash pickup. We recycle everything we can and seldom put out the trash more than once a month. Out recycles are usually 3-4 large blue bags along with some broken down boxes and such. Lately, my husband has been using newspapers and other papers from the office to mulch and compost in the garden. He puts down a layer of paper and then covers with compost. I love being one of the few people in the neighborhood who doesn't have a trash can out each week and I try very hard to talk my neighbors into recycling but haven't made a lot of progress.
ReplyDeleteSharon
We generate very little trash as well - I think cooking from scratch has a lot to do with it. We do try to recycle and reuse as much as we can. It seems almost funny to have a recycling "day" - shouldn't we just do it all the time? :) But anything that raises awareness is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteHere's another fun site, with some amazing recycling/upcycling project links:
http://unconsumption.tumblr.com/
Some of the links are more "designer" than everyday, but most are thought-provoking.
I admire anyone who aims for zero waste - that would require a lot of very diligent effort in our throw-away-minded society.