Use these tips when deciding how to first introduce recycling to your family and household.
1. Find Out Where Your Recycling Center Is and What It Accepts
Check with your local collection center, and find out what it accepts and rejects. Recycling can be different in different areas. Residents in some areas face fines for not recycling.
2. Analyze Your Trash Situation and What Kind of Bins You’ll Need
What you use most will determine the type and size of the containers you’ll require. If your family drinks a lot of juices and soda, you’ll want a larger bin for cans and bottles.
Check out this post on The Right Recycling Bin
3. Create Convenience
Ideally, your home recycling center will be a two-part system one part for everyday disposal and the other for storing. The everyday part should be where you generate the most waste―for many, the kitchen. The spot should be as accessible as the trash can, perhaps right next to it. If you are short on space, consider hanging sturdy shopping bags on the inside of a pantry door. Sorting is a tiresome truth of recycling, so why do it twice? Get a divided container that lets you separate as you dispose.
4. Choose a Storage Space
When your kitchen bins fill up, move their contents to a storage spot until it’s time to drop off at the curb or a center. Consider the garage, laundry room, or utility closet. Containers should be easy to transport, so look for ones with wheels. If your community has return deposits on cans and bottles, separate them, too, for returns.
5. Post Recycling Rules for the Family
Learn how you should recycle phone books, metals, makeup, mirrors, and more. It’s a good reminder for your family, and the quick reference makes recycling easier. Use a Magic Marker to write what goes where.