Are you environmentally friendly with your recyclables?

My trash service provides single stream recycling which is very nice because I don’t have to separate the recyclables, but I do rinse and flatten. Anything they don’t take, like batteries, e.g., I take to the State’s recycling locations, or with plastic bags, they go to the grocery stores’ bins.

I wash out my cans, but don’t flatten. I also have single stream; the only thing that’s required is that cardboard is cut up or folded into 18 inch pieces.

We used to have to sort, but not any more. Once we went to single stream, I quit recycling junk mail, and now shred and compost it.

We recycle everything the city allows. They take tin cans, glass and bottles, all the plastics, that have a recycling symbol on them, paper, cardboard and even washed out milk and half & half cartons. For electronics, there is a service here that will come and get them, and stip them down for parts, recycling the plastic and metal housings. So all in all, we do pretty well. We could mulch the stuff that doesn’t go into recycling if we had a plot of land to use the mulch on. So I fell pretty good about the effort.

@lillycoyote My trash service provides single stream recycling which is very nice because I don’t have to separate the recyclables, but I do rinse and flatten.

That’s exactly my answer, too.

Actually, I dont rinse the cans (shame on me) and stuff but I do crush, simply to save space in my kitchen. To be honest you should keep doing what you are doing but take your recyclables somewhere that pays you to recycle. If you drink a lot of soda you may notice you make more money if you crush them than if you don’t, simply because you can carry more.

@jaytkay I actually rather enjoy the whole “flattening” thing sometimes. I can let off a little steam by stomping things flat, plastic gallon jugs are particularly satisfying. :-)

I try to be, but really, I don’t like washing my own dishes, I refuse to wash the trash.

@YARNLADY LOL. I never thought of it as “washing the trash” but it’s kind of hard to argue with that one. One of the reasons I always rinse is that since the state banned yard waste in the landfill my trash service picks up regular recycling every other week and yard waste every other week so it can get a bit nasty if I don’t rinse. I never did send yard waste to the landfill, but the ban cuts my recycling pick up down to twice a month. That’s one of the reasons I always flatten too, because if I didn’t, two weeks worth of recycling might not fit in the container.

Nope. I don’t recycle. They don’t have a recycling truck and I really don’t feel like hauling crap to the recycling center.

@tigress3681, Great idea on how to recycle aluminum cans for cash. I never got into that idea because
I always thought it was a hassle collecting cans. In my household there are not to many aluminum cans that go into the recycling cart and every once in a while I do crush them to make more room for other recyclables, but sometimes I just don’t have the time to gather the cans outdoors to crush them when they start piling up. Is there some kind of kitchen dispensing machine that you use for crushing aluminum cans?

@lillycoyote, That is great your trash service provides single stream recycling were paper, cardboard, plastic containers, aluminum cans and all recyclables can be put in the same container. I would be glad if I had that service in my area. I have 2 teenage brothers and a 74 year old grandmother which they don’t pay attention to whatever it is they are putting inside of our kitchen trash cans and recycling cans which is no big deal to me since I can sort them out myself. I could understand teenagers and the elderly are just being themselves, but I always rinse/flatten bulky containers because in my household juice containers, gallon milk jugs will get piled up quickly if the containers are not flattened.

Hey, I read one of your comments were you posted that you let off a little steam by stomping things flat and feeling satisfied lol, I too! The plastic gallon jugs are also my favorite, especially the newly designed type. Have you stomped the new gallon milk jug yet? http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2008/8/4/mooving-to-a-new-milk-jug.html

I recycle everything my local council provides facilities for. Food waste and paper/cardboard are seperate. Plastic bottles, glass, cans and aluminum foil go in a single bin. I rinse them and I crush bottles but not cans. I don’t purchase fizzy drinks in cans so we don’t get that kind of can, and dog-food cans aren’t really crushable. Cardboard boxes I tear into pieces, mainly for space.

It’s the non-recycleable mixed plastic that annoys me the most but we’re down to half a bag a week of non-recycleable waste and that’s a household of 4 adults, so we’re doing pretty well. Paper and card is the one we fill the fastest.

Boston has a composting facility too where you can carry anything that’s compostable, and anyone needing compost for their garden or farm can come get it. I don’t have a vehicle anymore, and it’s way too far away to get to without one, so I can’t take advantage of it. But I think it’s a great idea more communities should adopt.

@Tamara LOL. I’m glad to know that I’m not the only one who actually enjoys stomping gallon jugs flat, among other things; and no, I haven’t tried the new ones, the ones shown in your link. I haven’t even ever seen them; they must not be available in my area. I don’t care how good they are for holding milk or how comfortable they are in your hand, for pouring; how good does it feel to stomp them flat? That’s what really matters to me. :-)

@lillycoyote, Among other things? Lolz, I wonder what those “things” could be. You must wear some big shoes. I’m 7.5, but I’ll still stomp with the big boys whether I am playing sports in the park with my brothers or just entertaining myself with anything that has to do with nonsense; step aerobics is a great exercise to speed-up the metabolism by the way. :-) The new gallon milk jugs are available at Sam’s.
My grandmother does the grocery shopping there due to economical prices compared to other grocery stores. I can understand you don’t care how good they hold milk, how comfortable they feel in the hand,
I don’t care either.

The only reason I like the new design is because they are more compact since they feature a flat top and more rectangular design than the old bulbous, round-edged containers and besides that, they fit so nicely in the fridge. The only time I don’t like them is when their empty and I have to do the rinsing, especially when both of my younger brothers have a habit of leaving empty cereal boxes, juice containers, gallon milk jugs in our kitchen countertops and dining room table and do not recycle or sometimes when my youngest brother is done drinking something, he puts an empty jug back in the fridge.

As soon as I notice the recyclables are not in it’s place and if I had a bad day from work, the newly designed treads of my running shoes make sure the newly designed gallon milk jugs are completely flattened, including the handle, as well as the pouring spout, Ha Ha! Then I’m well satisfied. But it will be more satisfying if my ex-boyfriend would watch me doing the flattening lol, sorry guys that are in this topic, it is a woman thing and it is pleasing to hear the sound of air when a plastic gallon jug is being placed/thrown on the ground and gets stomped. ;-)

@Tamara My latest kick (no pun intended) is stomping canned tuna cans flatter than a pancake. It takes some serious stomping to get them started, but once they begin to bend, it’s all an easy downholl slide from there to flat-line. Our kitty adores canned tuna, so I go through a can every two days giving it to her as a treat to supplement her dry food.

@ETpro, It is interesting to know that your “latest” kick was with the tuna cans while it took you some serious stomping to get them started to bend as you posted. I wonder how late ago was that when it happened, LM@O. :D

No, I’m not.

@Tamara Hey, it is a kick., But latest in flattening, not in terms of late hours. The other neighbors in the condo building wouldn’t take kindly to 2 AM can kicking sessions.