How 70% of Your Trash Can Be Recycled

In an effort to become more "green" I have taken a serious look at what I can and can not recycle. We have one garbage can that we use every week for trash, and most weeks it is barely 1/4 full.

My first venture into cutting back on the trash was to get a backyard compost bin. You can buy them at a garden store, sky mall, or even wal-mart, but I chose to make one myself. I sectioned out a portion of my backyard behind the garage with chicken wire. Simple and effective.

I love my compost bin. To make things easy I keep a red bowl in my kitchen. As I am peeling carrots or cracking eggs the excess carrot parts and egg shells go in the red bowl. I even put in used coffee grinds. Every night before bed I take the red bowl out to the compost bin. I also put grass clippings, leaves, weeds, and other yard waste in the compost bin. Once a week I flip my compost bin and viola...I have rich soil for my garden!

I love to recycle my wardrobe. Whenever I ad a new piece of clothing to my wardrobe, I make sure to donate a piece to the local goodwill or V.O.A. This is so much more productive then throwing that suit in the trash because you don't like the style. Someone can buy it, wear it, and love it, and you aren't filling up unnecessary landfill space.

Now that we have the food waste taken care of and the yard clippings being recycled what about the other trash in the house. You would think that I would jump at the chance to recycle my newspaper after I read it, but instead I prefer to find another use for it. So many things can be used more then once. I make sure that before I jump to recycle that plastic water bottle I don't have another use for it such as making a child's art project, or a cheap wildflower vase.

Once I have come to terms that I absolutely can not use that plastic grocery bag one more time because it has more holes then swiss cheese I finally recycle.

Here is a quick list of what can be recycled, glass, plastic bags, paper, aseptic packaging (drink boxes, soy-milk containers), newspaper, pizza boxes, waxed cartons, phone books, aluminum cans, foil, and the list goes on. If you don't know if something is recyclable then you can look it up on the worlds shortest, most comprehensive recycling guide at obviously.com.

Next time you are about to throw something in the garbage take a long hard look at it. Can it be reused? Can it be composted? Can it be recycled? Think about these possibilities and I am sure you will find another use for some items, and be able to recycle others.