Recycle 2 Save

 If we gave you .10 cents for every water bottle you recycled, would you recycle more?  https://www.news10.com/news/legislation-introduces-revised-bottle-bill-to-include-ten-cent-returns/ I can say with a great deal of confidence that it would not affect the recycling rate in my household. What would it affect? Well, that is a good question.  The stated goal of the bill is to increase recycling rates and promote recycling participation with some monetary motivation. The downfall is that much like most rebate/refund programs there tend to be those who try to exploit them. An episode of Sinfield speaks to bottle redemption road trips.  I have never enjoyed the muttered complaints without a solution but I don't think there is one clear, single solution.  I take that back. There is one clear solution that would make an enormous positive impact on recycling and launch forward the circular economy. The solution is so incredibly easy and I've said it so often that I ev...

As an insider looking at the state of recycling and all the pitches at trying to "fix it" I am left scratching my head. Sure, there is plenty that can still be done to tweak and improve recycling. There is absolutely no negative impact of a stronger focus on a complete environmental approach as companies push towards a circular economy and true product recyclability. Those are all wonderful things.  A recycling bin which is clearly labeled "No Bags and No Metal other than alum/tin cans" in the bin you'll see MANY bags and a metal charcoal grill (complete with charcoal). Recycling with care?  All those great changes won't do much though unless we focus on the real recycling issue. I just can't help feeling like we are trying to put a band-aid on a toe while we have lost both legs. The real issue with recycling is us. Consumers, residents, the recyclers are doing a terrible job and most just don't care. They say the...

No Plastic Grocery Bags... Please. You know how your vacuum cleaner feels about the random shoelace or blouse string you may encounter? That about sums up how our single stream equipment feels about plastic grocery bags. PLEASE recycle your grocery bags! Please DO NOT place them in your standard recycling bin. While out shopping let your used bags ride along and drop them in the retailers bin (typically as you enter the store). Don't know where to find a collection center for bags?? Visit www.abagslife.com

I pride myself in trying to make environmentally friendly choices and decisions. I try to avoid things that are used once and tossed. I was determined that as my son started 1st grade and was packing his lunches and snacks daily that we were not going to use the traditional throw away sandwich bags. I bought a bunch of reusable snack bags with cool designs that he could be proud to show off.  We had a bit of a tough start to the school year and it wasn't made any easier by complaints that his sandwich was a mushy mess by the time the lunch bell rang. Darnit.. my well thought out plan didn't work quite as I anticipated. So, determined to keep at it I put a standard sandwich bag on the outside and the reusable inside and began the war with my son.. complete with begging, pleading, idol threats and  "DO NOT THROW ME AWAY" signs. Then.. as I was doing some shopping I stumbled upon these bags.. and I must say.. YAY, they work!!  These baggies remind me more of th...

Plastic grocery bags are fully recyclable and can be used in a variety of new products.. BUT (and it's a big but) many material recovery facilities that receive bags mixed in with the residential recycling will end up discarding them as trash. The equipment that processes the recycling has screens that will become clogged by the plastic bags creating a housekeeping issue (which does not allow the sorting equipment to run effectively). In some systems there have been adjustments made (air vacuum systems intended to suck the bags up) in order to assist in keeping these bags from being a potential problem but they aren't fail safe. To get the most out of plastic bag recycling place them in collection units setup to specifically recover them. Like all recycling .. the cleaner and more segregated you keep the material the more potential it has to be successfully recycled. Most grocery stores have displays/bins setup in the entrance. If your location fails to have these bins ...

There is nothing  not a lot that is better (okay if you told me I won the lottery it might be better) than receiving a reader question. It provides proof that people are reading and interested in what we have to say. So, thank you Ben! Let's get right to it. "I have read everywhere.. including your site and facebook page.. that plastic grocery bags are recyclable but my local drop off center will not accept them. My friend suggested that they just slip them in the bag with the rest of the plastic bottles (no one checks) but I'm not sure if we should be doing that. If they are recyclable why is the local collection center adamant that they don't want to take them and where can someone take them if they are in the same boat. I'm in PA, not far from Harrisburg. Thanks in advance for you help. Ben" So Ben, this is where recycling gets tricky. Plastic bags are without a doubt completely recyclable. To add an even more positive fact about plastic ba...

So I know that I've mentioned it before but I'm not perfect. I try.. but at times I fail. I've done some things in our home to help encourage recycling and limit our garbage as much as possible. I've set goals for our family (of four) to have one bag of garbage per week. To some that still seems excessive and maybe others it seems impossible (I'm hoping for that because then I look good.. wink, wink). Sometimes we meet that goal and I proudly strut my stuff as I drop my one (in my mind) itty bitty bag of garbage at the drop off center. I also like to pretend to struggle with my many recycling bags (just to show how much our house recycles). It's great that we try to limit our waste but even based on one bag per week from every household we make A LOT of garbage. Many times for me things as a big picture can become a bit overwhelming and situations can seem impossible to correct. I think for my mind it's easiest if I break down big problems into smaller iss...

It was a gorgeous, blue skied day; the perfect day for a walk. We'd get to take in the picturesque beach scenes while completing a mission – gather some food for the week’s vacation. Granted, the perfection of the day required some time at the pool, ocean, or at least the protection of the shade to cool you and keep you from melting. So we set out on the ½ mile hike down to the local grocery store, kids in tow and plans in mind, eager to get back. We enjoyed a nice walk there and were happy to kill off a little of the extra vacation energy the children had built up. Everyone knows that family beach vacations tend to require a good deal of snacks, food, and drink.   Generally it is one of the first missions, especially on those that include a plane ride and no option for packing them. There were a lot of "needs" so we came armed with a list. We navigated the aisles and loaded the cart making our way to the register. As t...