How Can I Recycle? Being Green, Living Green

There are a number of ways you can help to reduce your trash. Practice the power of the three Rs--reduce, reuse, recycle--and you can go far in helping reduce the amount of your trash.

1. Reduce the amount you buy or use.

When cleaning an orange juice spill on the counter, do you really need to use that entire paper towel--how about using only half? Many times, simply reducing the amount of product you use can significantly reduce the amount of trash you are generating. Even better, use a cloth that can sop up that spill and be washed!

The same concept goes when buying groceries. Does the family really need that bulk package of meat right away? Buying only what you need can prevent food from spoiling and getting thrown in the trash.

When you buy that package of meat, do you use a plastic grocery bag for each item you purchase? By using cloth bags or reusing plastic grocery bags you can reduce the amount of plastic going to landfills. By reducing the amount of trash you generate, you can save money on items that are wasted or spoiled and tossed into the trash.

Another way to help is to buy items made from recycled materials. There are beautiful glass dishes that you can use as dinner plates made from 100 percent recycled glass, wood benches and CD racks made from leftover construction timber, mouse pads from recycled plastic and tires, and many more items that are made from recycled items.

Can you think of other easy things you can do to reduce the amount of trash you create?

2. Reuse the things you can.

Rechargeable batteries are a good example of reusing materials. By recharging the batteries, you can reuse them many times before they die.

By reusing items, you can prevent millions of tons of trash from going into the landfills. So reuse that glass pickle jar by turning it into a beautiful vase or those packing peanuts you got in a present from mom, reuse those to send another gift to a friend!

Use that cut grass for composting or make a beautiful piece of furniture from that old piece of wood. Use a cloth that can be washed and reused rather than disposable wipes. Reusing items can save lots of time and money. There are many ways that you can reuse the items around the house.

3. Recycle to the best of your ability.

Recycling items can be very helpful because these materials can be made into other things. I’m sure you are familiar with recycling bottles, cans, and paper. You can get some money while recycling these useful items! But did you know you can recycle computers, printers, ink cartages, used oil, batteries and a number or other common household items?

Many areas have a curbside recycling program where you sort your recyclables into bins for pickup. There are recycling centers that will give you the recycle value of your glass and plastic bottles and aluminum cans. There are even places that will take your batteries and old TVs and computers to recycle and reuse the parts. Look around and find what you can do to recycle.