Do you recycle things?

@Auntylou (4264)
Oxford, England
November 10, 2015 10:36am CST
I am an ardent recycler and very lucky that our local council makes it easy to do so. We have a nice wheeled, lidded bin for cardboard, paper, glass and cans which is collected every two weeks. Alternate weeks a separate bin for landfill is taken. Every week, food waste is collected in much smaller lidded bins which are taken once a week. Landfill sites are smelly and unpleasant places and it makes me feel good to know I am contributing as little as I possibly can. We have also been business recyclers for years. How about you guys?
46 people like this
54 responses
@marlina (154166)
• Canada
10 Nov 15
Yes, we do all the recycling that we can.
3 people like this
@fawkes62 (1276)
• United States
10 Nov 15
We've recycled for years, even when we had to hall it to the recycle center ourselves. Now we have curbside recycling that is picked up every other week, though we still have to sort it before it's picked up. There is talk of switching to no sort recycling, though we would have to pay for that. I'm not sure if the cost is worth it since what we have now is free, but I'm glad that I don't have to haul it all in anymore.
2 people like this
@fawkes62 (1276)
• United States
12 Nov 15
@Auntylou We can haul our yard waste, grass clippings and plants, to a collection site during the summer. I believe they will pick up bagged leaves in the fall and the spring when those sites are closed. The rest of the year it's not collected, but there isn't much yard work done in the winter here. There isn't a fee for that at all.
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
11 Nov 15
You are a beacon of good practice! We now have to pay extra if we want garden waste to be collected, but the rest is paid for by our council taxes
2 people like this
• United States
10 Nov 15
In our county the only thing we have to recycle is motor oil. The county was to start recycling other items, but so far nothing has happened. We are just a tiny county with 1100 people.
2 people like this
• United States
11 Nov 15
@Auntylou If they would start recycling I guaranty that only maybe 10 percent would comply. Out here in the country people burn a lot of their trash.
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
11 Nov 15
Wow that is a small population. In the UK our local authorities have had to get their act together because of laws passed in the European Parliament putting taxes on those who do not meet recycling targets
1 person likes this
@mom210 (9037)
• United States
10 Nov 15
Oh yes, we have recycled for many years, we recycled before the trash guys even knew what to do with recycled goods. We had to take them to the trash center and separate them ourselves because the trash men would not do it.
2 people like this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
11 Nov 15
Very impressive! We used to take our aluminium cans to the metal scrapyard and get paid for them , but then they started to use steel in the cans and it didn't pay, so now we give them to the council
1 person likes this
@just4him (305415)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
10 Nov 15
It's mandatory to recycle here. We have two large bins one for recycle and the other for the rest.
2 people like this
@Missmwngi (12927)
• Nairobi, Kenya
10 Nov 15
I wish it could be made mandatory here as well
2 people like this
• United States
10 Nov 15
I haven't started yet, but I'm trying to figure out how to best start without starting a pile somewhere since we don't have a lot of space. I have looked up some ways to make things on pinterest though and found some cool ways to make decorations out of stuff.
2 people like this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
11 Nov 15
That is a good thing to do too and lots of fun!
@marguicha (215148)
• Chile
12 Nov 15
I do other kind of recycling. I save jars and use them for the jams I make each year as presents. I turn garments into other types of clothes and finally into rags. I donĀ“t throw leftovers: I turn them into another dish.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (215148)
• Chile
13 Nov 15
@Auntylou I do not like much to eat the same food two day in a row. But I freeze portions (that come on handy later on) or use leftover to cook something different. I usually turn leftover pasta with pesto into minestrone. And a little leftover rice is turned into an omelette or added to checken peas or lentils.
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
13 Nov 15
You are so sensible. I used to do this with jam jars but am getting a bit lazy. I use old towels to dry my floors . Like you if I cook too much I will eat it the next day!
1 person likes this
• Calgary, Alberta
13 Jan 16
I always visit junk shops so I can sell those plastic bottles and glass bottles so they will be recycled. I also sell the old news papers I have. Yup I am still subscribed to newspapers.
1 person likes this
• Calgary, Alberta
14 Jan 16
@Auntylou Recycling old bottles by companies is still popular here.
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
14 Jan 16
@CaptAlbertWhisker And very sensible too! Much better for the environment
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
13 Jan 16
When I was young we got money back on empty bottles. Nowadays the companies find it cheaper to use new ones and made a lot of waste
• United States
10 Nov 15
There is no recycling program where I live. But I do my share here however possible.
2 people like this
@Jessicalynnt (50525)
• Centralia, Missouri
10 Nov 15
you have to pack stuff into town to recycle, I try hard to compost though
2 people like this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
11 Nov 15
Yes it is difficult without the proper facilities. Good to know you compost!
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69416)
• Germany
10 Nov 15
Germans are good at recycling.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325255)
• Rockingham, Australia
11 Nov 15
@Auntylou We visited Freiburg. It is very much into encouraging people to use bicycles rather than cars.
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
11 Nov 15
When my partner and I stayed in Freiburg with friends, every week people could put out unwanted items which others could take if they wanted and the rest was picked up by the authorities the next day. This was back in the 1970s!
1 person likes this
@Missmwngi (12927)
• Nairobi, Kenya
10 Nov 15
I am not that good at it but i try. You should be happy you have landfills and not open dumping
1 person likes this
@Missmwngi (12927)
• Nairobi, Kenya
11 Nov 15
@Auntylou Lucky you
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
11 Nov 15
Yes indeed and we do not have poor people trying to make a living scavenging off tips!
1 person likes this
@birjudanak (14319)
• India
10 Nov 15
Yes while anything will damged first I will try to repaired it and it done ok but sometimes not then take some good thing from it and from remaing try do different
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
11 Nov 15
Very sensible to try to use the good bits again
@birjudanak (14319)
• India
11 Nov 15
@Auntylou i think that i will something new from grabage and sometime i reached but need some extra thing so i put but one day i will do
@whiteream (8567)
• United States
16 Nov 15
you get fined if you don't where I live. I would do it anyway.
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
16 Nov 15
Are you in California? They are always said to be the greenest state
@whiteream (8567)
• United States
16 Nov 15
@Auntylou no, New Jersey
@irishmist (3814)
• United States
11 Nov 15
I used to try and recycle, but I don't anymore, I just kept forgetting,plus one place I lived in half the time it didn't get picked up.
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
11 Nov 15
It can be difficult if the right conditions are not there
@scheng1 (24650)
• Singapore
14 Nov 15
At my place, the recycling exercise takes place once a week. We bring the newspapers or old clothing to the collection point, and we get a few cents for our effort.
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
14 Nov 15
You are lucky to be paid for it!
@rebelann (111066)
• El Paso, Texas
11 Nov 15
I recycle everything I can and donate items I don't use anymore to people who might get use out of them.
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
11 Nov 15
That's the way to do it :o)
1 person likes this
@ricki_911 (21625)
• Toronto, Ontario
2 Jan 16
Yes,I recycle where I can. I compost as well which helps with the garden.
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
2 Jan 16
I love to compost, and have found that adding non shiny cardboard is very good for attracting beneficial worms to turn it over!
@boiboing (13153)
• Northampton, England
10 Nov 15
We've also started composting which feels very self-righteous
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
11 Nov 15
I love to compost too and if you want to encourage the red worms which help turn it over, put in non shiny corrugated cardboard : there is something in the glue used in it that they love!
@boiboing (13153)
• Northampton, England
11 Nov 15
@Auntylou What a great tip. Thank you.
1 person likes this
@funtool (246)
• Sargodha, Pakistan
11 Nov 15
I am from Pakistan and every thing made of plastic is recycled here. Recycling goods are cheap and people save money by buying recycled things. Recycling factories earn money and people get cheap goods
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4264)
• Oxford, England
11 Nov 15
When I was young all the drinks companies used to give a small refund when bottles were returned, to be washed and reused so there was far less waste. It is a shame that in the interest of profit, this doesn't happen any more.