I’d like to think of myself as environmentally conscious. In fact, I’ve set up a “recycling center” in the house to help sort our items. Every Tuesday the neighborhood puts out 4 bins for recycling – paper, plastic, aluminum, and glass. Residents are encouraged to sort their recycling and the pickup is on Wednesday morning. Ever since the recycling center has been in place, I can honestly say that our recycling quota has increased ten fold. Now instead of having the recyclable items clutter up the counter (as was the case in the past) it all neatly gets filed away in the center. And it makes the Tuesday sort even easier. I picked up this 3 drawer rolling caddy from Target for about $10 and printed the labels on my computer at work.
So here’s the center empty on Tuesday night.
And here is it full on Tuesday evening.
Any cardboard or larger items that don’t fit in the drawers get put into a paper bag and rest on top. This recycling center is tucked into the corner of the kitchen so it doesn’t impede traffic when I’m cooking and guests aren’t forced to stare it down while eating. Everyone gets a hoot when they see it.
I’m trying to apply more “green” principles to everyday life too and making smarter decisions when it comes to purchases. I have a Camelback that I use each day to (1) monitor my water intake (8 glasses or more) and (2) it cuts out the need for bottled water and the waste. Ryan and I recycle grocery bags for needs around the house and I will be using only wrapping paper that is made from recycled materials for Christmas this year. We keep some plastic containers (butter, feta cheese, etc) to reuse as storage for leftovers. Every little bit helps and I hope to keep on adding to the list of things we do to improve the environment. What “green” ideas have you implemented in your daily life?
I like your recycling center! Thankfully we don’t have to sort our recycling, so we just collect it in a paper grocery bag in one of our kitchen cabinets.
Our biggest recycling problem is that we usually end up having large boxes collect in our dining room while we put off breaking them down and taking them to the curb – usually for months at a time until I can’t stand it anymore!
haha, what a great system! We have 2 separate trash cans in our kitchen. 1 for garbage, and 1 for glass/aluminum. We don’t recycle all of the other stuff…. People always laugh at me when they come over, and they have the funniest look when they go to throw something out and can’t figure out why there are two. But at least I’m doing my part! Plus I can’t stand taking up space in the garbage can with cans and bottles and stuff.
Your recycling center is awesome–what a great idea! I’m a lazy bum when it comes to recycling, so it’s a good thing that my building doesn’t make us pre-sort!
I also do the saving plastic containers thing–my parents started doing it while they were in grad school to save money by not buying plastic containers for leftovers, and they trained me to do it when I was growing up!
(And hello! Just popped over via Just a Little Bit!)
The earth and I thank you :) Good Job!!
That’s a great idea! I’m glad you found my blog! I hope you’ll stick around!
Love the recycle. Now I see you want new cloths so you better be recycling the old ones as well and not just the paper and plastic!
Congrats on the new job!
Dad
I wish I could find my Camelback. I’ve been slacking on my water intake ever since someone stole it or I lost it, either way haha. I love the recycling idea you came up with. It keeps me from throwing everything in the trash and the labels make it easy so when its early in the morning and my eyes are half shut I can still see & know where everything goes.
Great recycling tip! I am a big re-use/re-purpose kind of gal…glass bottles, cans, etc.
Thanks for reading my blog. It’s always nice to see a fellow Virginian!
Great idea. I have 4 of these bins that i have been trying to figure out what to do with. Our Green Team at work has asked us to commit to one “Green” habit for a week. Found mine! Thanks.
Great idea Jonathan! I mean, Kristen! :) Hee…I had to, sorry :)
That is seriously a great organizational idea too. Thank goodness here we can put it all in one bin or I would lose my interest…
We have tried to make a concerted effort to live greenER this year – even though we still have a long way to go, we’ve made progress. We recycle, compost, bring our own bags to the store and try to shop at the farmer’s market when we can. We also gardened and composted this year, which really helped me realize how important it is to know where your food is coming from. We also try to eat at least one meal a week that is vegetarian and buy meat from a local vendor with grass-fed cows.
It’s funny, because it didn’t take that much to make the switches but I guess it just takes some thinking. Great work on your work to live green. =)
Good luck with your green endeavors!
That is a great idea!