Week Two--Recycling Plastic, Cans and Glass, Oh My

One of the best ways I trained myself to recycle my plastic, cans and glass from the kitchen was to dump the stuff in the sink. Don't worry--I didn't leave it there forever. No, I put that stuff in the sink because in order to recycle plastic, cans and glass, they need to be clean. And if your soup cans, glass jars and plastic yogurt containers are already in the sink with the dishes, you can easily clean them out--then put them in the recycling bin.

With that in mind, keep your recycling bin near your kitchen sink so that it doesn't become too much trouble to get those recyclables into their proper receptacle (and I don't mean the trash).

Now what about the recyclables you might find in the rest of the house? Well, get recycling bins for each of those rooms. For example, in my laundry room I've got an extra trash can where I can toss empty detergent bottles. Because my laundry room is across the hall from my master bathroom, I'll also use that trash can for bath-oriented recyclables, like empty shampoo bottles or the plastic container that Venus razor blade heads come in (though it might be more environmentally responsible to get the Recycline Razor made from recycled plastic). With these extra bins situated around the house, then all you have to do is make collecting recyclables a part of your garbage-collection routine before trash day.

Of course, one of the best ways to recycle an item is to figure out a way to reuse it. Coffee cans are a terrific place to store loose crayons, and empty jars make excellent nail and screw holders. A Trenton, New Jersey company called TerraCycle has figured out a way to reuse recyclable bottles by turning them into the containers for its eco-friendly products, like bird feeders and worm poop-based fertilizers.

Perhaps on your way to making recycling plastic, cans and glass a new habit, you can come up with creative ways to reuse your items as well. If you do, I'd love to hear those ideas.