Our little town recycles and the first 2 bins are given to residents, if you want more than two you have to pay $7.00 per bin thereafter. Not exactly sure how they came up with the $7. dollar amount but I'm sure it was all figured out somewhere along the budget line.

We recyle everything and believe me it saves on the amount of plastic bags we'd have to buy if everything was being tossed into the trash/garbage bucket; and it definitely cuts down the plastic heading off to landfills. I did get another bin so we could separate materials, it does make it a lot easier, no in-house sorting.

As far as reusable shopping bags, I use them all the time too, I have several from all different stores lol.

pitcherday, that's horrible that your state and/or community don't care enough to make recycling easy for it's residents.  I live in California, where recycling is mandatory, but it doesn't matter because I would recycle even if it wasn't. 

We have mandatory recycling here and have probably had it for 20+ years now.  We just use big old garbage cans (and our garbage goes in town-supplied "robocans") to put out our recycles.  A good friend of ours lives about 30 minutes away and his town DOESN'T recycle.  I hate throwing empty beer bottles into the regular garbage!

We HAVE to recycle. If our garbage guys even suspect we are throwing away cans or whatever they will tear our bags apart and leave everything on the lawn. I have seen it done. We have recycle bins (and I requested two more) and have to put out cans, bottles, foil, and all newspapers and magazines. If we so much as throw out a magazine, we could be fined. They are super strict here but that's OK. We recycle anyway and don't throw out stuff that could be recycled so we never get in trouble. lol.

this2shallpass19 said…

pitcherday, that's horrible that your state and/or community don't care enough to make recycling easy for it's residents.  I live in California, where recycling is mandatory, but it doesn't matter because I would recycle even if it wasn't. 

 

 

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you are so right! I told the Mister I am going to have to look into this further and talk to some community leaders to see if maybe they could even get drop-off points. I think it's important.

PattyTherre said…

We HAVE to recycle. If our garbage guys even suspect we are throwing away cans or whatever they will tear our bags apart and leave everything on the lawn. I have seen it done. We have recycle bins (and I requested two more) and have to put out cans, bottles, foil, and all newspapers and magazines. If we so much as throw out a magazine, we could be fined. They are super strict here but that's OK. We recycle anyway and don't throw out stuff that could be recycled so we never get in trouble. lol.

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Patty, when I lived on Fort Hood, I went outside on trash day, and picked up a piece of newspaper off the lawn and stuck it in the regular trash. They put this big note on my trash can about how recycling is mandatory on Fort Hood and it jeopardizes our privilege of living in military housing if we don't. So I can believe the trash being spread all over the lawn, if the Army will kick you off post for it!

It's not mandatory here, but we have recycling pick up in our city so we recycle as much as we can.  But my family members live in cities that don't have it so they don't really unless it's batteries or electronics or hazardous.  Of course everyone in MI recycles pop bottles and cans b/c we get 10 cents back.

But if a can is dirty or moldy, i usually will just toss it.  Mold makes me sick :P  I have a very hard time cleaning that stuff.  I throw as much as I can in the recycle bin and will even take home juice drinks (for example) if I buy them while out.  But it is hard to recycle if you've never done it before.  Moving to a city that had the program and the pamphlets, it took us a long time before we really started recycling the best we can.  And the main reason we do it is to save garbage bags :-D  No need to fill up the garbage with Cereal boxes and Milk Cartons.  

Patty, I think that is a little much to rip your bags up and/or fine you for something like that.  It would take decades to get laws like that in our area, especially since half the cities around here can't even afford a recycle program.  I swear, the guy across the street has so much garbage every week that I wonder what they do!  We have 1 bag or 2 at most but we don't have a full recycle bin every week. 

I wish every state had laws requiring recycling, and imposed and enforced hefty fines for individuals who break the law. 

I recycle and have to pay an extra fee for it.  But I think it's worth it.  When I lived in an apartment building in Denver they had no recycling at all - it's not required for rental units. I was surprised at this since there are a lot of aprtment complexes in the city of Denver, which claims to be environemntally friendly.

Here in Middleburg FL we all have 2 recycle bins per home. But they only pickup certain plastics Must have a 1 or 2 inside the triangle. Could never figure that one out. If it's a 5 or 6 the kind that a convenience store soda cup would come in they won't take it.They do take Paper, newpapers, glass and aluminum cans but forget about plastic grocery bags. So those I bring to the Grocery stores and drop in their recycle barrels designed for this purpose. I do too much grocery shopping to use a lot of the cloth grocery bags (usually 10-15 bags per trip) but I do use them when running in for just a few items.

They only pick up #1 and #2 here, too and all of the other things you mentioned. It's better than nothing!

Part of the problem is cities cannot afford to manage and run a recycling program.  My mom's city put a curbside recycling in place for a year, then cancelled it the following year because of funding issues.  Many cities around here don't have one.  So as far as fining people and making it required - that is a LONG way away in Southeast Michigan because first they have to actually offer the service.

Unfortunately many people are not going to go further than their curb to recycle.  I know people who think it's ok to throw away batteries which is one thing that MOST people recycle so that surprised me a lot. 

Throwing away batteries is ughhhh. They send us bags to put old batteries in and we send them out postage paid so we are never stuck with batteries we don't know what to do with.

We CAN throw away soiled paper like if we are paper training an animal or something. Otherwise, it has to be recycled. I don't mind the strictness since people sneak cans and stuff into their trash by stuffing them inside other trash. They're not overly picky here about us washing the cans sparkling clean but I do rinse the cat and dog food cans out before I put them in the bag that will eventually be poured into the bin.

We cannot recycle plastic bags from the store or even put recyclables into them. I have taken to asking for paper bags because it's a hassle to have those plastic bags and go to the store to deposit them. I didn't realize recycling WASN'T mandatory everywhere!

I think it should be. It's really not that big of a hassle and you just get used to separating the trash from the recyclables. There are plastics we can't recycle as someone mentioned like the store bought plastic cups. We have to check the number on the bottom to be sure it can be recycled. I forgot what numbers we can recycle but hubby and sons know.

I think it should be mandatory as well. I'm not overboard go green or carbon footprint or whatever, but recycling is a very basic way to save the environment and save money down the line. Even if they want to start off with drop-off points and go nuts advertising and encouraging people to use them. I know many places have discontinued drop-off points for glass, because you ended up with dangerous broken glass everywhere, I understand that. But if you are in Iowa and taking the time to collect and schlep your cans to the recycling center for five cents (and MI for the even more lucrative 10 cents) back, why can't you just do the same thing with the other stuff? Even put the drop-off points near the can redemption to make it a one stop thing?

Wow, that's a good idea. (if I may say so myself), I need to talk to someone about it.

I'm surprised about the plastic bags patty because we are allowed to recycle plastic bags and that is how they want us to recycle or paper.  Maybe your state is trying to stop people from using plastic bags!  I save most of mine from every shopping trip, and then we use them either for garbage in our smaller cans, odds and ends here and there, and then finally to recycle our paper.  They finally accept Phone Books which is great b/c those things go straight from my mail box to the recycle bin.  Who the heck needs a phone book anymore?  And why do they just leave them on my doorstep when I didn't ask for one?

Our city DOES make us clean things and there are a lot of rules over what you can and cannot put in.  I've learned that they will take almost anything, but it has to be cleaned out.  Unfortunately many people are not willing to do all that.

I think it's funny your neighbors go out of your way to "hide" their cans in the trash b/c that seems like more work than recycling them!

Anyway, until states can fund these programs, I don't see it being mandatory anytime soon.  Perhaps the ruling and funding has to come from higher up.  My city is on board, but very few around here are doing it.  That would be a good start - teach everyone about the program, get them on board with how easy it is to rinse a can and throw it in the bin.  Then down the line make it mandatory.

The 10 cents per can here is practically the only thing most people are willing to recycle around here (besides cities like mine that have the program).  Perhaps incentives like this could get people on board to other things.  How about a few cents for each pound of recyclables you bring to the center?  And yes pitcher it would be a great idea if they had recycling points where you take your cans - all in one spot - the grocery store is where we go for cans.

We can take our plastic grocery bags to the store and put them in this machine. I have no idea what happens after that. We can't put newspapers or recyclables in those bags though or they won't take them. They are TOUGH here, man.

I told hubby to get paper bags from now on but many stores (other than grocery) don't give the option. I just went to a dollar store and ended up with six plastic bags and I hate them. I have to save em all up and take them to a grocery store where they go to a special place where no one can find them again. Or maybe they're recycled. I have no idea. lol.

OH! And I just heard we will now have to pay 5 cents per bottle of water (and will get it back if we return the bottles). Hassle and a half but we have to do it. I'll forget and recycle the bottles for a year before i get it right.

We have home recycling pick-up of glass, some plastic (numbers 1 & 2), and newspapers. Plus we can take plastic bags to the grocery store.

I have several canvas shopping bags to use instead of the grocery store bags (and we get a 5 cent discount from most stores if we do that), but I usually forget to bring them. They're sitting next to the coupons I usually forget to use too.

I live in TN now and we have a choice.  I always do and we have pick up after the garbage truck comes.  I think it is great but wish more did it.  Tn used to have trash all over the place when we moved here.  Now it is much better except when you go into the back roads, what a mess.  Sharon

Patty, perhaps you should consider getting the canvas bags, like onwaytozion said, but you have to remember to bring them haha.  Maybe just leave them in your car?  Honestly I have never tried them, b/c we can recycle plastic bags and we actually make a lot of use of the plastic bags around the house (diaper bags, garbage bins, giving stuff to people back and forth, etc).  So we reuse them much as we can.  

I also try to bag my own stuff b/c I can make it 10 bags when the grocery person would make it 20!  They waste so much and I don't know why they can't figure out that it's ok to put cereal in the same bag as yogurt... who cares!  Once I get home i organize it all anyway.  

Cool that you get the 5 cents on bottled water b/c it's a good incentive to get people to recycle them instead of tossing them.  They should do that here too.  Would be nice.  Stuff like Arizona Ice Tea isn't returnable either but it is recyclable so we put it in the bin.

Well sounds like your state is starting to get on the right track at least.  Ours is the same way - it's optional and more and more people are doing it.  I don't see nearly as much liter as I used to, but I am shocked when I DO see people throwing stuff out of their car.  It's 2009 now, get with the program people!

We have a bin for clean items--glass {labels off], bi-metal, plastic [# 1 through 7], & aluminum.   "Bundle" newspapers--but do keep separate those of newspaper paper versus the ads/paper with sheen.   Groc stores will accept the plastic shopping bags.  Usually there is a collection area--often near shopping mall--for phone book collection, when the new bks arrive each July.   Have provisions to drop-off bulky items, electronic things, etc--so township handles such.   Sadly, a nearby town--does just glass & bi-metal!

where I live we have bins and they empty it on every wed,so I do this every week and i have also gotten my boys doing it too.

Would you believe the city of St. Louis DOES NOT?!  When I lived in the county, we had a separate trash tote for recyclable products.  Now...nothing.  I don't buy cans of soda that often.  But, when I do, I save them for the local HOMELESS GUY that picks them up.  That's the best I can do... 

It's not mandatory where I live. We don't recycle because we live in an apartment and it's not available to us. sounds like ya'll really go through a lot to recycle. Good for you and thank you for doing it! Take care everyone!

Plastic bags are bad! :)  Take them to Walmart and drop them off there for recycling but better yet try not to use them at all.  Believe it or not I have only paid for three reusable bags but the rest have all been free. Here's an idea, every time you buy a gift wrap it in a shopping bag and forget the wrapping paper.  And yes, after every carry in we hang on the doorknob to take back out to the car next trip. I also use them for the library and toting things back and forth. 

Did you know using your plastic bags in your trash cans and diaper bags is not recycling.  They do not break down so not only are they sitting in the waste bin but everything inside of them is unable to break down also.  Plastic bags are a pet peeve of mine can you tell. If you want the details on them send me a message I'll give you a link to an article on it. 

I recycle everything either in the house or curbside. I have even told friends who don't have curbside to bring it here and drop it off. We actually have more in our recycling bins than we do in the trash.  I was proud of my 4 yr old the other day a box when in the trash and she said, no mommy that's recycle!  good girl. 

I also use yogurt cups to mix the kids paint in, paper towel and bath rolls for craft project. Cartoons for wrapping paper, shredded paper for packaging trust me if it can have another use I will find it. 

Target, CVS and Krogers are starting to do a credit on your purchase for bringing your own bags. Pretty cool! 

Our local grocery store Hy-Vee was selling reusable pink shopping bags with part of the proceeds to go to breast cancer research. I originally thought bringing my own bags would be a pain! Those bags are so big! And they are much, much easier to carry than regular sacks, and tons stronger! I always keep one in the car in case I have to go to walgreens or target or something so I can skip the bags there.

I always get a credit for bringing my own bags! I always buy the biodegradable bags for doggy poo. The other day I went to look for an extra plastic sack, and I couldn't find any! 

Bob had some really good and easy "going green" tips in another thread. I'll have to find it and link it.