I really used to hate recycling. Plus as the only one that would do it, it got real tiring.
We seem to finally be all on the same page. It took a lot of pushing and griping but we are
now a family that recycles.
To me I used to feel like it was more work to wash out sort, and then drag something else out
to the curb. Really though with the way it works here on Belvoir all you have to do is rinse
out and put all the recycling in one bin. I have a bag for trash and then another for recycling.
Then when the trash goes out, so does the recyclables.
I have also found out that you can be green and recycle more then just plastics, paper, glass
and aluminum. By buying used toys, clothes or other used items you are being green and helping
the planet. I am one that likes things new, and their are definitely a few things I would not buy
used. Mattresses would be one of them and personal items. To me that just grosses me out, but I have learned that it is ok to have things that are not new.
Here is a big number that did not surprise me at all. The average American produces 1,600 pounds of trash a year. This does not include industrial waste from fast food restaurants and such. For a family of five for a year that is 8,000 pounds and then over a fifteen year span that makes it 120,000 pounds of trash. That is a lot of trash! We can change this though be recycling, and reusing.
For kids an easy way to recycle is to buy used toys. Living on a military post I have been lucky to find a lot things that were ment for the landfill when families move. I have found toys that would cost us upwards of thirty dollars for free. I just washed them up really well with vinegar and they were like brand new. Also if you want to help out the planet and go a little bit more greener, buywooden toys. At least if it gets thrown out it will deteriorate faster and be better then plastic. Granted it still uses trees but nothing in my eyes is perfect.
Getting the family on board for recycling took some determination. Ok. Reallyit was more like some demanding and threatening,and repeating of the pharse "This is not trash, this goes in the recycling." (Imagine my hands on my hips) I had to make it easy and accessible for the man of the house. So I have two diffrent bags, one for trash and one just for recycling out in the open. He told me he will do it but he won't go out of his way to hunt down the recycling bag.That is progress in my book.
I am working on getting two trash cans and then labeling each so I will not have to worry no more about
bags sitting in my kitchen. I tend to be OCD which how things look, and everything has to have a place. I wanted to talk about something that is new to me called upcycling. Basically it is taking something and making something else out of it. Or otherwise meaning making it better then what it was. Similar to recycling yes, but when you recycle it actually changes say plastic to a lesser quality product. I am interested in this especialy since I found a purse that you can make out of old pop cans. I will include the link below, it is quite interesting.
Truth is recycling does take some effort and want. Once you understand though and see how much waste you really make though it can be enlightening. My focus for recycling was that I wanted my children to have a clean and safe planet to live on. It became more then that though because after I did the research I wanted to understand their impact on the world. Hopefully they will be able to learn and understand this at an earlier age then I did.
Recycling has been something new to this family. It has been a fight, but a good one. I have even noticed that
we use less trash bags. It has also opened up discussions about reducing and reuseing. Tony actually came homeone day from the store with recycled aluminum foil. I was quite proud. I no longer look at recycling as something time consuming at all.
Link to upcycled purse:
http://thegogreenblog.com/diy-soda-can-purse/
Link to upcycling ideas: (Somethings seem werid, but at least it can give you an idea of what upcycling is and
can be)
http://toponlineengineeringdegree.com/?page_id=116
For those who are interested in how they affect the planet you can actually track your carbon footprint.
A carbon footprint in layman terms is the everyday things we do and the affect it has on the planet. Here
is a link that can actually show you how you affect the planet.
http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/?gclid=CJ_V5MSH3qQCFd9n5QodIC87KA
Recycling is now more then throwing some stuff in a bin. Have fun with it and get the family involved.
