Advice?
"Recycle, recycle, recycle."
Those were almost the first three words I heard during my first day of high school - in biology class. My now late teacher Robert Furtado was an avid recycler. He wasn't one of those tree hugging people, but he did what he could to protect the environment - and he instilled in us one of the easiest ways to do our part.
We didn't have a recycling program in college, and it always bothered me. It doesn't take long to put a coke can in a different trash can than the normal one. When I got my first apartment, I was frustrated because there is no easy way for an apartment dweller to recycle. No one comes by to pick up blue bins when you live in an apartment. When OMRF (where I used to work) finally got a recycling program, I became the floor recycling Nazi. I had boxes in the halls for easy paper disposal. When I moved to Irving, I set up my own recycling center next to my kitchen, complete with paper, cans, glass, milk bottles and plastic grocery sacks. About once a month I would lug it all down 3 flights of stairs into my truck and drive it to the local recycling pick up center about a mile away. It was not convenient, but it was easy enough.
My one beef with it right now is it accumulates so fast. And when my husband doesn't understand it and sees it only as an inconvenience, it's hard to want to continue. I've got the system in place again at this apartment, but I'm still the one that has to lug everything around, and I'm getting tired of it. The problem is, every time I throw something in the trash, I cringe. It's just instilled in me. I can't wait till we get a house with a blue bin. In the meantime, I don't know what to do. Any advice?
Those were almost the first three words I heard during my first day of high school - in biology class. My now late teacher Robert Furtado was an avid recycler. He wasn't one of those tree hugging people, but he did what he could to protect the environment - and he instilled in us one of the easiest ways to do our part.
We didn't have a recycling program in college, and it always bothered me. It doesn't take long to put a coke can in a different trash can than the normal one. When I got my first apartment, I was frustrated because there is no easy way for an apartment dweller to recycle. No one comes by to pick up blue bins when you live in an apartment. When OMRF (where I used to work) finally got a recycling program, I became the floor recycling Nazi. I had boxes in the halls for easy paper disposal. When I moved to Irving, I set up my own recycling center next to my kitchen, complete with paper, cans, glass, milk bottles and plastic grocery sacks. About once a month I would lug it all down 3 flights of stairs into my truck and drive it to the local recycling pick up center about a mile away. It was not convenient, but it was easy enough.
My one beef with it right now is it accumulates so fast. And when my husband doesn't understand it and sees it only as an inconvenience, it's hard to want to continue. I've got the system in place again at this apartment, but I'm still the one that has to lug everything around, and I'm getting tired of it. The problem is, every time I throw something in the trash, I cringe. It's just instilled in me. I can't wait till we get a house with a blue bin. In the meantime, I don't know what to do. Any advice?
posted by Karen at 9/19/2006 10:24:00 AM
4 Comments:
I hear you Karen. I face the same dilemma. Living out in the country is great! But . . . . no curbside recycling. When the kids were still living at home, I tried several times to recycle. For awhile, Walmart had recycle bins at the stores. I had a big trash barrel dedicated to newspapers. Another for plastic and one for aluminum cans. Unfortunately, people put trash in the Walmart recycle bins and they were removed. The place that took glass for awhile quit taking glass. Newspapers I was adamant about recycling . . . and for a while I would make a trek over into East Austin to deliver months worth of newspapers. But then that closed.
Break to today. Henry is drinking his cokes in plastic - we throw it away. I do save all the cardboard and once a year make a run with it over to the recycle place in Round Rock. On trips, I do try to save the aluminum cans. We do find some campgrounds that have a place to recycle them.
I firmly believe in recycling, but sometimes the other resources -time and even the cost of gasolene make it impractical. and yes, I cringe as I throw away things that I know are recyclable also.
I think we have an extra blue bin you can have. I think we use ours for laudry or something because we are bad people.
We have a blue bin that somehow made our move from Oklahoma. There is no curbside service here either. I wish that there was. I have been recycling cans for quite a while, but that is just about all that we do. Jonathan hasn't quite caught on. I usually have to dig his cans out of the trash. When Quentin was living with us, he reminded JOnathan that we were recycling and Jonathan acted like he didn't even know. I don't have any good advice. Just keep plugging away, maybe he'll come around.
Karen, you would SO totally fit in here in germany!!!
I have to recycle my trash at least 6 different ways, although I've counted at least 11 different options that you could do it here.
America has not reached the stress point that Europe has with resources and recycling, but will eventually get there --wouldn't it be better to get a head start? *sigh*
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