24 replies to this topic

[Jessi]

I was just reading a design blog that was showing how she redid her "command center": http://www.landeesee...ccessories.html

Obviously, there were a lot of improvements made, but one really stood out to me. She replaced the trash can with the recycle bin. Now, all of the school papers or bills that are old or already dealt with, can be tossed into the recycling instead of straight into the trash. What a simple change that can make a big different.

Where do you keep your recycling bin? Could its location benefit from a makeover?

[MakingCents]

We used to keep it in the garage and that was a pain (our garage was detached)  we found that we wouldn't use it if the weather was bad.  Now we keep a small bin in the front closet and every few days we dump it in the main bin in the garage.  It's nice because our city doesn't require us to separate our recyclables from each other.

[zararina]

We do have space outide of our house as we live in a compound. So we just hang there some plastic bags for several things/materials. Just like for plastic bottles, cans and bottles. And then we will sell it to the junkshop near us if its already have weight.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

3 in the laundry room-cans/paper/plastics. This town doesn't accept glass for recycling. (I know, dark ages
mentality.) Counter top can for compost goodies.

[elitebag]

I just sell it to junkshop.

[tigerlily78]

I keep two small totes stacked beside my trash can to put recyclables in for the short term. When the bins are getting full or I am cleaning the kitchen, I dump the totes into the larger recycling bins which are kept at the back of the house.

[ConservativeGreen]

I have 2 stacking bins next to the fridge in the kitchen for paper and cardboard, and a trashcan with lid next to that for plastic/glass/cans.  Once a week or two they all take a ride to the convenience center.  Other bulk items are sorted in my outbuilding and get hauled off when they are in my way.

[fancyfingers]

Jessi, on 30 January 2012 - 05:12 PM, said:

I was just reading a design blog that was showing how she redid her "command center": http://www.landeesee...ccessories.html

Obviously, there were a lot of improvements made, but one really stood out to me. She replaced the trash can with the recycle bin. Now, all of the school papers or bills that are old or already dealt with, can be tossed into the recycling instead of straight into the trash. What a simple change that can make a big different.

Where do you keep your recycling bin? Could its location benefit from a makeover?

We have our can recycling bin underneath our sink, a recycling kitchen bin next to our regular trash can. It was very easy to get the kids to put everything where they should go, it is the hubby we all have to remind what bin to put the item in. My husband is notorious for putting recyclables in the trashcan if the recycle bin is full. Nice to hear one of the kids telling him he needs to put it in the right place!

[fancyfingers]

Oh, I forgot, we have started a separate recycling bin for water bottles because my nephew turns them in for $$$ in CA. He was shocked when I told him we do not have a place to turn in water bottles. We do have reusable water bottles, so, the bottled water is when we have guests over, party, etc.

[brihooter]

We have two trash bins.  I use one for regular trash and one for the recycling.  When it's time for them to pick them up I switch it to their container that they provided.  We keep that on in the garage.

[mariaandrea]

I just have 2 trash bags in the kitchen - one for recycling and one for actual garbage. The recycling one gets filled up faster. We throw the bags in the dumpsters every couple of days so it doesn't add up. Compostables go under the sink. I haven't set up anything pretty like that - we have a small kitchen - but I'd like to.

[dconklin]

We keep our recycling cans on our back deck next to our big garbage can-where we put the kitchen bags until garbage day.  I do not think that it would change anything here by changing the location.  My kids are good with what goes in the garbage and what gets recycled.  We also have it set up so we just have to open the kitchen door and the recycling bins are right there next to the door on the deck.  I try to make it easy!

[adriannei]

We have a large bin for plastic bottles, beer cans and any other material you can think of for recycling. However, we only take out the recycling once a month. For that month, we earn like $40 extra just off the recycling which is always nice. I'm trying to recycle paper now too so I always have my shredder in the same room as the recycling bin and this is much more convenient.

[Sarah C.]

I keep my bins for aluminum and plastic in the kitchen. The rest I keep on my screened in porch, so I am easily reminded to empty them as I leave the house.

[CryoMage]

My kitchen cupboard has a really big door, and since my dad used to work as a furniture manufacturer, we bought a few different colored plastic bins and we attached them to the inside of the door. It works great because it forces us to take the thrash out to the big containers outside every day, which means less thrash around the house, and we have no problem separating the thrash, not to mention how portable and cute it looks.

[rbaker_59]

I got a separate trash can just for recyclables.  I don't keep it by the trash can because everything would go into it.  I keep it just around the corner to try to prevent that, although since recycling is still fairly new, I still have to pull things from the trash can and put them into the recycle can.  The city recycle bin is too big to put into the house, so I keep it beside the front porch to empty into.  I also serves as a reminder.

[Hysssss-teria]

The big thing around here is that whatever I provide for collecting recyclables has to be easily accessible to the lazy people who live here -- they aren’t very gung-ho about the project.

So any junk mail gets handed to me. Then I go through it and salvage any that can be used for scratch paper and stack it on the shelf above the computer.

There’s an empty cardboard carton on top of the chest freezer in the laundry room for aluminum cans and plastic bottles to be returned for deposit refunds.

There are two small empty beer boxes between the hutch and the wall in the dining room for paper. There’s an empty 20-pound dog food bag with them for recyclable plastic bottles and jugs. Those get bagged up separately and dumped into the recycle can outside and collected once weekly with the separate can of garbage.

(I was shocked last night to see my elderly mother throw a wadded up piece of paper across the room at the recycle box -- and miss.)

[dconklin]

Hysssss-teria, on 13 March 2012 - 11:59 AM, said:

The big thing around here is that whatever I provide for collecting recyclables has to be easily accessible to the lazy people who live here -- they aren’t very gung-ho about the project.

So any junk mail gets handed to me. Then I go through it and salvage any that can be used for scratch paper and stack it on the shelf above the computer.

There’s an empty cardboard carton on top of the chest freezer in the laundry room for aluminum cans and plastic bottles to be returned for deposit refunds.

There are two small empty beer boxes between the hutch and the wall in the dining room for paper. There’s an empty 20-pound dog food bag with them for recyclable plastic bottles and jugs. Those get bagged up separately and dumped into the recycle can outside and collected once weekly with the separate can of garbage.

(I was shocked last night to see my elderly mother throw a wadded up piece of paper across the room at the recycle box -- and miss.)

We are good about the recycling here.  The kids are not good with rinsing things out first so I have them put the empty bottle in the sink so I can take care of it.  They both know what goes in the garbage and what doesn't.  I could see myself getting irritated if nobody wanted to help with it tho!

[btatro]

I keep my recycling bin ( a paper bag that also gets recycled ) directly next to the garbage. My apartment complex allows for communicable recyclables (paper, glass, and plastic together). These items get put into my paper bag, I usually end up with 1-2 from the grocery store as I prefer not to store fresh meat in y reusable bags, and all get recycled each time the garbage goes out. Having it convenient makes recycling easy. J would be less likely of I had to go out of my way.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

It's good to see that some people here use cardboard boxes or paper sacks that can be recycled too.
Plastic bins are good in the fact that they help in the recycling process, but they're plastic and one day
will end up in the landfill where they will take 1000+ years to degrade.