How green is your kitchen?

[Thanks for the Crepes]

1 hour ago, MetsFan5 said:

 

 

   A bit bewildered by the recycling in CA having to be in a bag. Seems like more waste. 

 

Here in Cary, we have regulations against putting recyclables into plastic bags. They do provide us with large rolling bins that some genius designed to be raccoon proof, which is quite a feat. I was never able to buy a raccoon proof garbage can back when we had backyard collection of waste. I always have far more recyclables than I do garbage for the landfill nowadays. 

 

They enforce garbage and recycle regs pretty durn effectively by just leaving at the curb anything that does not comply with what they have asked us to do. I wanted to kill the probable landscape crew who threw away their Bojangles chicken boxes on top of a nearly full bin of recyclables that was left at the curb and I had to haul back unemptied and wait two weeks for another pickup. It forced me to put some things I would normally have recycled into the larger and less full trash bin. This happened twice before the homicide fantasies started. I know that sounds extreme, but I actually WASH my trash and meticulously comply with all the rules and then these thoughtless boobs throw chicken bones on top of my recyclables. Fortunately, this crew has lost its taste for BoJangles, found another victim or moved on out of my neighborhood. 

[heidih]

Here in the south bay of Los Angeles the waste management companies dictate recycling rules. Some people are appalled that several cities, including mine, do not ask reidents to separate. I've spoken with the Sanitation District rep at length. Detailed studies were done in each city. The narrow winding roads with lots of dead ends which prevail in several localities make having different pickup trucks environmentally non-sensical. The separating is done by skilled workers and is surprisingly effective. Also, a whole lot of folks are incapable of following dirction so the recycling has to be re-sorted anyway. 

[Toliver]

The garbage company that serves my apartment complex dropped off a large blue Recycling dumpster right next to the regular trash dumpster.

However, they didn't provide any of the apartment dwellers with a recycling trashcan for inside the apartments. So if the residents want to use the recycling dumpster, they have to come up with their own recycling bag/bin/system. I thought this was odd.

 

In this city, it wasn't until a very short time ago that if you owned a home and you wanted a recycling bin (the kind you wheel out to the curb in front of your house on trash day), you had to pay an extra monthly fee for the blue recycling bin.

So let me get this straight dear city-leaders: You want the residents to recycle, but you will also charge them more if they do.

How about charging residents extra if they don't want to recycle and let those who do want to recycle have free recycling bins? 

[Darienne]

3 hours ago, Toliver said:

In this city, it wasn't until a very short time ago that if you owned a home and you wanted a recycling bin (the kind you wheel out to the curb in front of your house on trash day), you had to pay an extra monthly fee for the blue recycling bin.

So let me get this straight dear city-leaders: You want the residents to recycle, but you will also charge them more if they do.

How about charging residents extra if they don't want to recycle and let those who do want to recycle have free recycling bins? 

Reminds me of Moab, Utah, my home away from home.  They have no municipal recycling there, partly because the town is so far from everything.  The two nearest cities are two hours north and two hours south, and both in Colorado.

 

There is recycling, but it's privately run, mostly with volunteers and if you use it, you are asked to donate money to help keep it going.  

 

The center accepts cardboard boxes.  And you never saw so many boxes from Sysco.  Almost all the "restaurants" in Moab are fast food outlets.  

[Porthos]

13 hours ago, MetsFan5 said:

 

 

   A bit bewildered by the recycling in CA having to be in a bag. Seems like more waste. 

 

I didn't express myself very well. The cans and bottles stored in bags is to keep them contained before I take them to a local recycler to get, more or less, the cash value back, the nickel a can and ten cents a bottle I have to fork over when buying the soda and beer. At the recycler I dump the cans and bottles into barrels on wheels and put the bags I used back into my vehicle to be used again.

[kayb]

On 6/15/2018 at 12:55 PM, Toliver said:

The garbage company that serves my apartment complex dropped off a large blue Recycling dumpster right next to the regular trash dumpster.

However, they didn't provide any of the apartment dwellers with a recycling trashcan for inside the apartments. So if the residents want to use the recycling dumpster, they have to come up with their own recycling bag/bin/system. I thought this was odd.

 

In this city, it wasn't until a very short time ago that if you owned a home and you wanted a recycling bin (the kind you wheel out to the curb in front of your house on trash day), you had to pay an extra monthly fee for the blue recycling bin.

So let me get this straight dear city-leaders: You want the residents to recycle, but you will also charge them more if they do.

How about charging residents extra if they don't want to recycle and let those who do want to recycle have free recycling bins? 

I've recycled for the past 8-10 years, ever since I've lived where a city offered the service. In Hot Springs, we had blue plastic bins -- big plastic totes, essentially -- that we put recylables in. They would pick up metal, glass and paper; you had to take your own plastic, something about it taking up too much space in the truck.

 

In Jonesboro, we have used blue plastic drawstring bags. I keep mine as a liner to a big laundry hamper on the carport, and pitch the cans, bottles, paper and glass all in it. Boxes (we shop Amazon a lot) get broken down and stuffed in a big box. It all goes down to the curb every other week. We are getting the recycling carts next week; had to pay a one-time $20 fee for them. I don't mind that. I would be irritated at a recurring monthly charge; I agree, charge the people who DON"T recycle.

 

[blue_dolphin]

I consider myself fairly aware of green practices and try to focus on reducing use first, then re-using and finally, recycling.  Balancing all that with minimizing water use, etc. etc. I'm not perfect, but I do try. 

Last week, I managed to run out of paper towels, Kleenex, toilet tissue, trash bags, zip-top freezer bags, etc. so I did a re-stock run to Target and was appalled that I'd completely filled the trunk of my car with stuff that I planned to discard.  Sheesh!

[Anna N]

But for those of us who remember washing, hanging to dry and then ironing handkerchiefs ....😂