Recycle It ~ Tips & Tricks

[YouPdWhat]

Post your recycle ideas here!

[YouPdWhat]

Recycle

• The Internet Consumer Recycling Guide provides many great tips on making recycling easy in your home.
• Learn about the recycling centers in your area. Check your local phone directory.
• Create designated holding "bins" for each type of recycled product and place in convenient locations in your home/garage
• Create a fact sheet on recycling centers in your area for yourself and interested neighbors. Find out where you can recycle newspapers, glass, styrofoam, corrugated paper, plastic, aluminum, paper, cardboard, tin cans, scrap metal, junk mail, and alkaline batteries.
• In general, try to buy products/containers made from recycled material as often as possible to support the recycled product market. When purchasing paper products (toilet paper, etc,), look for paper that has been recycled using a minimum of 50% post-consumer waste. Also, purchase from companies that do not use chlorine to bleach their paper products (which creates dioxin waste).
• Tell your local retailers you want them to stock more products made from recycled materials.
• Leave grass clippings on the lawn as fertilizer.
• Start a compost pile with yard trimmings and food scraps.
• Purchase rechargeable batteries and a battery recharger (some battery rechargers will also recharge regular alkaline batteries).
• When you buy new tires, ask if your old tires will be recycled - if not find out if there is a tire recycling center in your area.
• If you are traveling and no recycle bins are available, pack your recyclables home with you whenever possible.
• Recycle your printer's (small) ink cartridges through available programs (ask for recycling sources where your purchase your ink cartridge).
• For the ultimate in recycling, consider the growing movement in eco-friendly burials that allow the body to recycle back into the earth and help to restore the land.
• Check out books on recycling

[YouPdWhat]

Don't Throw Away That Old Shower Curtain!

*Clean and disinfect an old shower curtain by soaking
it for a couple of hours in a bathtub filled with warm
water and vinegar. Use it as a tablecloth for the picnic
table.
*Use an old shower curtain as a drop cloth when you
are painting, or as a ground sheet under your tent or
sleeping bags.

*Make a car windshield cover to prevent frost build-up.
Cut a shower curtain to fit your windshield and hem in
magnets along the edges to hold it in place.

*Use a shower curtain to make an apron for really
messy jobs.



( borrowed from ff thanks to TnAngeleyes )

[YouPdWhat]

Reuse


The media has done a wonderful job of selling us on the attractiveness and benefits of buying "new", "improved", "special", etc. products. However, we already collectively own so much that we could all survive for quite a while on the existing products - if we just reused them a few times!

• Shop at and hold garage sales - this is a great way to reuse products.
• Donate your old clothes and other products to charity.
• Buy and sell your items on online sites.
• Donate your old computer equipment.
• Send your used cell phones and ink cartridges to Cure Recycling - profits from reuse of items support the CURE Childhood Cancer organization. Free postage. Another place to donate cell phones is Collective Good.
• Donate your old eyeglasses to the Lions Club, For-Eyes, Pearle, or Lenscrafters.
• Organize a community swap program (i.e., designate a place where people can leave unwanted items for others to use).
• The Freecycle Network provides an online community tool for giving and receiving free stuff.
• Buy products that will last and take care of them.
• Teach your children the value of thrift.
• Be creative about how to reuse products (i.e., give your extra hangers to your local dry cleaners, donate your unused paint, etc.)
• Use both sides of each piece of paper -- for note taking or printing documents from your computer (at home or work). Create note pads by stapling together once-used paper.
• Recycler's World is one (of many) web sites that facilitates buying and selling used products (for home and work).
• Pick up books from your local library or used book store. The library is also many times a great place for finding magazines, CDs, books-on-tape, and videos.
• Dump and Run is a nonprofit organization that organizes the collection of college students' castoff items in the spring, so they can be sold to incoming students in the fall. The proceeds are then donated to nonprofits.

[YouPdWhat]

Paper Recycling

* After children's drawings and paintings have been displayed for a while they can be used to wrap presents - this also makes the present special

* Discarded paper can be cut and stapled together to make notepads

* Use the envelopes you receive in the mail a second time by placing a new address label over the last address

* Old envelopes can also be used for scribbling down shopping lists, to-do lists, and notes

* Old calendars, colourful pictures, etc. can be used to make your own envelopes. You can unstick a used envelope and use it as a template for making envelopes

* Old rolls of wallpaper can be used for childrens' drawings

* Junk mail can be used as scrap paper, or as bedding for certain pets

* Animal shelters and pet shops appreciate old newspapers

* Old newspapers can be used to mulch and weed control the garden. Wet newspaper and place thickly on the garden. Cover with bark or stones.

* Old magazines are appreciated by:
Doctor offices
Dental Offices
Motels
Friends

Received via e-mail from friend

[feyzanour]

i have empty plastic containers of sanihands kids wipes, lots of them. The boxes r big but there is just few wipes inside. they r like clorox wipe boxes. What should i do with them?

i also have lots of other containers that i dont want to throw but dont know if anyone can use them. like glass baby food jars, ziploc containers etc

[druidessemily]

Originally Posted by feyzanour i have empty plastic containers of sanihands kids wipes, lots of them. The boxes r big but there is just few wipes inside. they r like clorox wipe boxes. What should i do with them? i also have lots of other containers that i dont want to throw but dont know if anyone can use them. like glass baby food jars, ziploc containers etc

The wipes containers you can use to put crayons in for car rides, so you can store a dozen or so rather than bringing the entire collection. You can also use them to organize craft items, safety pins, etc.

Baby food jars are great for organizing small items. Men love them for in the workshop to organize nails; if you/your husband (?) don't need them, you can ask around and see if anyone can.

Ziploc containers (I'm assuming you mean for leftovers rather than the baggies?) can be used to hold a variety of items. Office supply, craft items like buttons... or you could just use them for leftovers. ;)