When I was in grade school (it's was a looonnnggg time ago), I remember us studying Earth Day. We learned this little rhyme "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Too - It's Up To You and Me!" Well, that stuck with me all these years & I have been an avid recycler ever since. Now it seems the phrase has been updated to Recycle, Renew, Reuse/Repurpose. So, in celebration of Earth Day, which is on Friday April 22, all the posts this month will be dedicated to Recycling and Reusing/Repurposing.
This 1st post of the month is how to make a recycling station at your home. We are fortunate enough in our area to have local trash collection sites that also have recycling bins for certain items. I know in some areas there are even services that will pick-up your recycling from your curb (NICE!!).
Here's how I put my recycling station together in my garage. After looking at stores & on-line at all the options for recycling bins & realizing the cost was way more than I was willing to spend, I found these simple black trash cans with lids at my local home improvements store for not much money. I also found stickers for recycling at that same store. As you can see from the photo, we have 3 trash cans (glass, plastic, and cans) - how many cans would depend on what items your area accepts for recycling, we also use a regular plastic tote for newspapers/magazines (basically junk mail) and a sturdy cardboard paper box for holding cardboard. And Wala! We have it tucked away on a wall between 2 doors that was pretty much unused space.
Recycling doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. It does take some time to gather, rinse, and take the recycling to where it needs to go, but we reduce our trash each week by at least 1 or 2 bags. So, that little bit of time we spend is saving landfill space and the environment 1 or 2 bags at a time! Happy Recycling!!