30 replies to this topic

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Jessi, on 03 February 2012 - 10:32 AM, said:

I highly recommend smashing them first because they take up a lot of room otherwise.

There are lots of ways to smash them to reduce space, like just by smashing them with your foot in the middle, and then smashing down each end to make them flat....or there are even can smashers you can hang on your wall. The easiest way we found was to actually just toss everything into a can and then every so often, line them up in the driveway and back over the rows, lol. Then scoop them all up and bag 'em, so they're nice and condense and don't take up much room.

Found this video on You Tube-home made can crusher.

[MakingCents]

My other set of grandparents used to have one of those can crusher things that hangs on teh walls.  I remember when I was growing up they would save all their cans for me to smash when I got there becuase I thought it was so fun.  Ahhh the simple way to entertain a child.

[Jessi]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 05 February 2012 - 03:41 AM, said:

Found this video on You Tube-home made can crusher.

Haha, that's awesome. I don't think I would bother, but it's an interesting idea and they look like they're having a lot of fun. Maybe it'd be a nice way to show kids that recycling can be fun after all and not just a chore?

[shenk]

Here in Hungary we have two kinds of public waste gathering: at most of the places (sadly) all waste goes into the same container, and they take it away in a mass, and burn it. There are however some places (and their numbers are increasing) where you can collect waste selectively into several categories: paper, white glass, coloured glass, metal, and PET bottle. I agree, first it can be frustrating and confusing, but I think one can be used to it, and eventually it will be automatic.

[steph84]

The only time I ever found it to be a hassle was when I was in college. There were never enough bins around campus to recycle and I didn't even have one in my apartment building. It was so frustrating that I had to save up everything and walk to a whole other dorm, swipe my student ID and sort it all. This doesn't sound that inconvenient, but when it is freezing and snowing while juggling everything...it becomes a huge pain! I did send e-mails to the housing department and new bins were added to the dining halls.

[adriannei]

Recycling really isn't a pain if you think about it. The only thing it involves is separating trash. For example, you may have to remove water bottles from your dumpster and add them to recycling. Tell your family about separating and be sure to use different bins. For example. You could have bins for recycling, trash, and earth compost. These are the most basics anyways, and it is not difficult to seperate everything.

[Alli]

I also think it is much easier when there is a system in place. Where we live (Beijing), there is nothing in place. People dig through the trash and pull out anything that can be sold and do that- so we separate out anything those people might pull out (styrofoam, cans, plastic bottles, etc) into a separate bag when it gets brought to the trash area of our apartment building.
I used to live in Seattle, where everything was organized. It is kind of frustrating here.

[CryoMage]

The only nuisance I have with recycling here is the huge amounts of paper that get amassed ( because that's what happens when you have 5 avid newspaper readers in the house, and everyone reads a different paper), but even then the recycling yard is only a 20-minute bike ride away. The only thing we don't personally recycle are plastic bottles because here the government pays you to do that, so we leave bags with our bottles near containers where people usually dig through the thrash, as a small kindness.

[dconklin]

Recycling isn't a bother for me.  Our town has recycling trucks that come the same day as the garbage trucks.  We don't have to separate anything tho, it all goes into the same recycling truck.  I use less garbage bags with recycling too! The only thing that is a pain for me is if you recycle batteries or hazardous things.  You have to drive almost a half hour away to our county garage for that.

[Hardison]

Alli, on 10 March 2012 - 11:16 PM, said:

I also think it is much easier when there is a system in place. Where we live (Beijing), there is nothing in place. People dig through the trash and pull out anything that can be sold and do that- so we separate out anything those people might pull out (styrofoam, cans, plastic bottles, etc) into a separate bag when it gets brought to the trash area of our apartment building.
I used to live in Seattle, where everything was organized. It is kind of frustrating here.

I used to live in the San Francisco Bay Area and it was very easy to recycle there. And most people were on board for recycling and helping the environment. I have moved back to Southern California ( I grew up here) and it's a bit harder. Things are starting to change.

[rbaker_59]

Our city has just started recycling and has not advanced that far, but recycling is something I got excited about to see them at least start to do.  My frustration comes from getting household members to get into it when they feel it is a waste of their time to do so.  I also get frustrated when I forget to put the bin by the curb for pick up because they only pick up once every two weeks.  I know that with time everyone will get better about remembering to put things in the bins, but it can be very frustrating until then.