Your Questions About Recycling

The Expert answers:

The less recyclable material buried in a landfill, the better. All of my veggie waste goes into a compost bin. Then into the garden after it composts. We have less garbage, and “free” fertilizer. Tea bags, coffee grounds, fruit and veggie waste, old bread and tortillas all compost quite well.

The Expert answers:

Try calling your garbage pick up company. They usually will pick up recycled garbage and many time will provide you with special bags for the recycled products.

The Expert answers:

Yes. In my rural area, we have to haul our own refuse to the collection center and it’s easy to have a carton for recyclables and a bag for garbage. In addition, much of our food waste goes into the composting bin, along with litter from the chickens, leaves, and lawn cuttings. In addition, the center has a small building where you can put or take things that are still useful. You never know what you are going to find in there.

The Expert answers:

You no on garbage day some people leave out old funeture, you can make it like a project to find as many as those as posibul (alot are in the citys) and then repair them, so its like getting free funature thats nice and and you are recycling

The Expert answers:

Usually by this time they’re pretty hard to find, if not impossible. (We’ve tried.) We’re going to try to make our own bag, by cutting large garbage bags down their side seam, and then wrapping them around the tree, maybe securing with duct tape. Or we may just run with the tree outdoors really fast, lol.

You could check Lowes or Home Depot, or any other hardware store like that. Also try Bed Bath and Beyond, Linens and Things, and Target. Maybe Walgreens.

In my city, even if you put your Christmas tree in a plastic bag they still pick it up and recycle it into mulch. They do the same with lawn clippings, which you are actually required to bag.

The Expert answers:

Whether you get paid or not, most recycling centers separate glass by color. – I have recycled glass for years now and I find that presorting into containers by color to be the quickest and smoothest way to go. Right now, I’m generating much glass for recycle and, I have reasonable access to a recycling location. So, I have a kitchen garbage can with plastic bags outside; one bag for clear, green, and brown. In times past, I have had two, old fashioned, galvanized metal, garbage cans for my glass: one for clear and one with two plastic garbage can liners for brown and green glass. My glass containers have always sat outside, pretty much in the elements, and often with inadequate lids. As a result, I have come to prefer containers with cracks, splits, or holes in the bottom for drainage. At the same time, most of my containers have come to me as others cast-offs and/or have been found along side the road. From experience, your container must be strong enough and/or in good enough condition to be able to be filled with glass and still be able to be moved without falling apart.

In terms of receiving money for your recycled glass….Chances are, you will not receive recycling money from your county and/or regular garbage folks. If there is money to be earned through the recycling of materials/selling of recycled materials for further re-use/re-manufacture – your county folks and/or regular garbage stream folks are probably using monies received to further recycling efforts and/or build recycling infrastructure. There are some states that do mandate a glass bottle deposit and, in those cases you may be able to recoup the deposit fees. All too often, recycling is cheaper than sending the materials off to landfills but, either cost the collector money to gather, sort, and send off for re-use/re-manufacture or, not enough money to capture the costs of recycling. As a result, the “profits” from the other recycled materials are used to off-set the costs of landfill and/or recycling of the other materials. So, as a recycle through the county and/or your regular garbage stream folks, you don’t reap a direct payment for your materials. Rather, you realize over-all reduced costs, accessibility, and other infrastructure development.

On the other hand, if your area does have a reasonably close market for recycled glass – You may be able to find a private recycler who is paying for glass. Check the yellow pages for your immediate and surrounding areas for recyclers – call, and find out what they have to say. Do remember however, that these folks are typically “middle-men”. To be able to pay you, they must in turn be able to sell the materials they pay you for at a profit. In turn, this means that there must be someone within in reasonably close, geographical proximity who has a need adequate enough to pay for the glass.

I have never heard of anyone preferring crushed or broken glass over whole glass from the individual collector type. Your containers should be able to handle the potential for broken glass; particularly with respect to your own, personal protection. Do remember your own “profitability” with respect to storage capacity and transport: If you have to travel a distance, you may find that collecting for several months and/or a year necessary for profitability. On the other hand, you must also consider how and/or if you are able to transport a volume of glass.

The Expert answers:

I always use our reusable bags whenever I go shopping, so it’s very rare that a plastic bag makes it into our home. Any that do are taken in to be recycled. I use biodegradable bin liners, the biggest ones I can get so that I don’t use very many.

The Expert answers:

My personal opinion is that it is very good for the environment to recycle and reuse plastic bags.

Many stores have drop off receptacles at the entrances near the doors (usually large and round with a dome top) to recycle the bags. This is an ever growing trend. If you don’t see one ask and even suggest they start it.

You can also reuse them for things like dog poop pick up, wet swim suits, trash bags for the car, garage sales, etc.

My daughter wants to try and make fabric out of them by cutting them down and ironing them and then make a prom dress out of them when she is older.

The very BEST thing is to invest in 5-6 reusable shopping bags for $.50 each and never use plastic shopping bags again.

By recycling them you are not leaving them in a landfill for 100 years, sending them off to a garbage barge, taking the chance of them floating away in the wind and ending up in the “plastic belt in the ocean” or worse in the trash belt in space!

Granted recycling plastic does require energy and does have other toxic side effects and there are some that argue recycling centers of ANY kind do just as much damage to the environment as good.

The Expert answers:

Use a pole to dislodge the bag. There are also tongs that are used to extend your reach that could be used to grab the bag. Then recycle the cans or bottles.