Do you recycle? Can you do more to help the environment?

Recycled or dumped - Do you recycle everything?
May 16, 2007 3:49am CST
In my porch I have three boxes. I have a blue box for glass, a green box for paper and a red box for plastic. My partner and I use these boxes for our recycling and these are collected by our local authority and, on occasion, we also take them to the recycling centre. I was shocked to find how much we actually throw out on a daily basis, just from our household alone there are usually two full bags of rubbish every week, even though we do try to recycle as much as possible. So, people, do you recycle enough? Are you trying to go green? or do you simply throw everything away.
7 people like this
27 responses
@joice86 (1078)
• Philippines
16 May 07
Oh, it depends on what we have. Here in our home, we don't recycle much. If we have those empty bottles, we just give it to our neighbor and they are the one selling it. At least in that way, we are able to help our neighbor. For the boxes, I do recycle them. I used them as containers for my paperworks or as storage for anything. For the clothes that we are not using already, we will just donate it to the charity or to the church and they will be the one to distribute it already...
2 people like this
16 May 07
But you are recycling hun. You give the empties to your neighbour, you donate things to charity for reuse elsewhere, it all counts. Thanks for your comment
1 person likes this
• Philippines
16 May 07
yes, this is another good practice at recylcling. once we give away things, those that receive them will make use of them. we are recycling while helping others at the same time. so recycling is not really that difficult, it is relatively an easy thing to be doing.
1 person likes this
@joice86 (1078)
• Philippines
16 May 07
hi trinidadvelasco! Yes, instead of throwing them then at least others can still use it. Because here in our place, Philippines, everything is almost recycled. Since that's the only way for us to help others, then we just donate it than throwing them...
1 person likes this
@4cuteboys (4099)
• United States
17 May 07
We recycle! We have two big red bins that we fill with everything they accept. We don't have to seperate it though, they just take it all mixed. We have a big family, but man the amount of garbage we make is ridiculous. Even though we recycle everything we can! We have two huge cans at the curb every Tuesday.
2 people like this
17 May 07
I'm glad you are doing your bit hun, and boy can I understand the amount of rubbish generated in a household. There is only the two of us here but last week, even with the recycling, we had two full bags out. Thanks for your comments
1 person likes this
@4cuteboys (4099)
• United States
17 May 07
We have 6 people in the house right now, and my dad stays here once a week when he comes to work. It's sad how much trash there is, I wish there was some way we could cut back!
1 person likes this
16 May 07
I always try to recycle as much as possible. If i buy a bottle of water down the street i will always bring the bottle back to reuse and then recycle. We recycle bottles, paper, card, plastic and we use green waste for compost. I don't think there's much more we could do!
1 person likes this
16 May 07
Hey, you're doing good hun. Every little bit helps, thanks for your comments :-)
• Malaysia
17 May 07
Depends on which country you live in, some of the plastic bottles used are substandard, it maybe harmful if you reuse it.
1 person likes this
@mummymo (23706)
16 May 07
We have been recycling for a couple of years! Our local council only rovides us with one box into which paper, metal, plastic and glass can go into, when they empty our recycle boxes whey empty them in different compartments, I usually have to put extra in bags cos there is never enough room in my box! We were also part of the pilot scheme for household rubbish and garden rubbish to be collected on alternate weeks - the trouble comes in the summer when your rubbish can be lying stewing in your wheelie bin for a fortnight and boy can it stink! On the whole we try to recycle everything we can - everey little helps! xxx
1 person likes this
17 May 07
I read about the fortnightly collection for household rubbish hun, and I really can't see how it will work all that well. Crikey sometimes it stinks after a week, especially if my other half has had curry and the remains have been binned :-)
1 person likes this
@mummymo (23706)
17 May 07
Well we have had this system for about 2 years now! It is not perfect by any means - espescially in the summer and I cannot say I am a fan but the one good thing is that it make s you think more seriously about waste management and recycling as you only have one wheelie bin for household rubbish - you have to halve what you would normally throw out! xxx
1 person likes this
• United States
17 May 07
we recycle can's, glass, plastic and cardboard. They come by every thursday to pick up recycleables up. There are probably more things I can do to help the environment, I just don't really know what they are right now.
2 people like this
• United States
16 May 07
I used to live in a very rural area, where they did not offer any recycling services through our trash company. We found a place that takes plastic bottles and aluminum cans, so we would take them once a month and drop them off. My sons school has a paper recycling drop box outside the elementary school and we use that. Now, we are renting in town and I have not checked into all the recycling amneties here, but I intend to do that this week. I think if every person in the world would try to recycle a little more each day, our earth would be a better place. But, I also understand that some peoples schedules and lifestyles do not help with this. I try to look into different ways to help our earth, but I have to say that I am not 100% on it.
1 person likes this
16 May 07
Hey you are doing our best hun, which is more than a lot of people actually bother to do. Thanks for your comment
• United States
20 May 07
Thanks, I know that everyone needs to try a little harder to save our world, but sometimes I wonder if this will ever happen.
1 person likes this
@timou87 (1638)
• Singapore
15 Jul 07
yes i do recycle whatever i can, although i think i could be a better recycler, in that i usually dump all the recyclabe items into one big bag for the recycling contractor to pick up, i should put in more effort into sorting out the items into glass, paper and plastic like you have
16 Jul 07
I do still forget to sort sometimes but having the boxes helps. Our local authority have started a bi-weekly collection now so all our recycling is collected
• United States
16 May 07
I'm not one of those people who yells at others for not recycling and sometimes I don't follow through myself, but yeah, I take stuff to be recycled. For example, I put up the cans and paper for the recycling center and look for some products that have been recycled to buy. I wouldn't exactly say I'm trying to go green because I'm not as dedicated to it as I probably should be, but I do make an effort to do my part to make the world more beautiful. The thing that really bothers me more than not recycling is all of the trash that you see on the sides of roads and other areas that people have just thrown out. I know that people see where others have done so and think a little more won't hurt, but that's just adding to the problem instead of working to make it better. Hope that answers your question.
1 person likes this
17 May 07
You make a very valid point hun, the rubbish littering the streets and the countryside is dreadful. It isn't difficult to keep a bag in the car for rubbish, I do. The beach we used to go to in Cornwall is a perfect example of how thoughtless and inconsiderate people can be. Last time we went down there the place was littered with cans, bottles, rubbish and even dirty nappies. Thank you for your comments and for pointing out the litter problem too
• United States
17 May 07
I recycle some things, but not enough. I recycle all plastic, glass and cans; I sometimes recycle the newspapers (but I don't buy it that often anyway), and I'm part of a local recycling group, where we give away things to others. I hate to throw things away, since someone else can use it, but after a number of people promise they're coming to get something and don't show, I'm forced to donate it or give it away to clean house.
17 May 07
I have another bag of things ready to go to a local charity shop, mainly some clothes and some surplus crockery. I am a bit of a magpie and do collect up far too much stuff in the house, and I often list things on eBay too, just to get rid of the surplus.
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
17 May 07
How amazing. Yesterday I thought of a discussion along these lines but made it about re-cycling clothes instead. I was a fanatical re-cycler and where we lived we had two big bins with wheels. One for regular rubbish and one for recyclables. The regular was emptied every week and the other fortnightly. On my Dad's farm, he used to burn or bury his rubbish. Fires are no longer allowed without permission (he still burns) and the local tip now has bins for recyclables. Dad doesn't understand the concept. (He's 93). Where I'm living we don't have a garbage collection either and must take our stuff to the tip. We now have a place to dump engine oil, and there is a section for green waste, (where people throw anything) but that's it. It all goes in together. Sad but true.
1 person likes this
18 May 07
LOL - great minds think alike hun. My parents don't understand recycling either, Mum is adamant that all the rubbish just goes into the bin for collection. I will never be able to change her mind though. :-)
@Tetchie (2932)
• Australia
17 May 07
I recycle everything. I rarely buy newspapers and read online. Anything tin, aliminium or plastic plus papers, cardboard is put in recycle bins that our local council collects fortnightly. I no longer get junk mail which makes an enormous difference to the household and makes me feel better for not contributing to tree felling. And there is less mess in the home. I've managed to decrease my litter to the bare minimum.
1 person likes this
17 May 07
I still get piles and piles of junk mail, all of which goes straight to the recycling box. I'm still trying to achieve less mess in the house though :-)
@easy888 (10405)
• Australia
16 May 07
Hello,recyclegoth,i also have a yellow trolley for recycle,i put glass,paper or plastic into one box only and every week the local council will come and collect them and sort them out for recycling purpose.I find out that i have thrown away alot of paper box i left for the pizzas,and some glasses or cans as well.When i get some items which are suitable to recycle,i will put them into the trolley,at least i have done something to save the world.
16 May 07
Well done hun, glad to hear it. I never realised just how much trash we produce until I saw the amount going onto a landfill site. The damage we are doing to our environment is dreadful. Thanks for your words hun, have a good day
@easy888 (10405)
• Australia
16 May 07
If everyone do it,the world will be much better .
1 person likes this
• Australia
16 May 07
Yes, I get the newspaper almost every single day and I always recylce them no matter what. It is also convenient since I have quite a large household and the rubbish bin usuallys gets full by the end of the week pretty quickly. And knowing the size of newpapers when stacked up, this also gives more room for other rubbish. Not only newspaper, I also recylce fruit boxes and milk containers.
1 person likes this
16 May 07
Cool, that's good for your environment too. Our rubbish bins get filled up far too quickly these days, so I make a big point of recycling. Thanks hun
• United States
18 May 07
My daughter and I are the only ones in this household and together we're trying to go green. I've changed all of our lights over to the energy saving kind, started buying all our cleaning products from http://www.shaklee.net/brendahoffman , started using essential oils instead of candles and recycle everything but paper because our township doesn't take paper. I'm glad to hear others are doing this as well. Brenda Marie Livin smart only makes sense, http://www.livin-smart.com Looking forward to writing for you soon, http://wahmbrenda.blogspot.com/
1 person likes this
19 May 07
We changed all our lightbulbs and I have noticed how much longer the low energy bulbs last. thanks for your comments
@lols189 (4742)
29 Jul 07
i dont have much time to recycle and i dont have the space to do it. i simply throw all my rubbish away in a bag but i suppose i would recycle in the near future
1 person likes this
• Canada
16 May 07
i do recycle, but not as much as i should. it's been a month or so since i carried out the recycling bins so they have been full and i haven't been recycling lately. i did just recently buy material reusible bags for grocery shopping. i use them all the time instead of plastic bags and i also take them to wal-mart or wherever else i go to use them there as well.
1 person likes this
16 May 07
We recently had a big drive in our local supermarket for re-using bags and I have several of their "bag for life" bags which I use. I try to avoid getting plastic bags now but if I do then I use them as rubbish bags.
1 person likes this
@yvonne1968 (1063)
• United States
16 May 07
The city i live in use to do a city pick up of recycable stuff. But now we have to take it to the bins that are placed around the city since they dont have the money for the trucks to come pick it up. Me and my boyfriend are right now working on collecting pop cans for the local zoo since they are collecting them for the frogs and lizzards and i guess its being donated to the rainforests.
1 person likes this
16 May 07
That's great hun, I hope more people try to do their bit for the environment like this. thanks.
@whyaskq (7523)
• Singapore
16 May 07
In Singapore, we do have recycle bins put up by the town councils. For my area, there is also a recycling company going round collecting items for recycling every fortnight. They collect anything, trash, junk mails, cartons, containers, whatever that can be recycleable and yes, my home does have a bag outside for them every fortnight.
1 person likes this
16 May 07
That is excellent hun, I am so glad to hear it. I wish more local authorities would take this on.
@yanstill (1490)
• China
16 May 07
i tend to throw things away,except batteries or other things will pollute.indeed you give me a good suggestion to collect things and recycle.actually,i decided to collect plastic bottles and papers,when they get to some amount,i can sell them.i think it's another way to save some money,although not too much,as that money accumulate,it will be a big amount.
1 person likes this
16 May 07
There are companies that will happily buy cans and bottles and plastic for recycling, it's worthwhile finding out if you can do this in your area hun.
@ellie26 (4139)
• Malaysia
16 May 07
I dont really do recycling. I have a few boxes that contain old clothes and two boxes of old books. We have people who will buy these type of things and recycle them. But they only take clothes that are wearable. Usually for papers and plastic I will just throw it away. It is good to recycle things that we no longer need because other might find it useful.
1 person likes this
16 May 07
It's a shame you can't recycle paper and plastics hun, your local landfill site must be huge with all that rubbish. We do our best where we can, and I take a lot of things to our local charity shops too.