The national recycling rate has increased every year for the past 30 years. The current recycling rate is 34.7%. That sounds a bit low to me. It’s time we step it up a notch!
There are many creative ways to improve an existing in-home recycling system or to create a new recycling system from scratch. The folks at Rubbermaid and The Home Depot have teamed up to make it simple for each of us to find a recycling system that works!
American Recycles Day is November 15th
America Recycles Day, a program of Keep America Beautiful, is a nationally recognized day dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling in the United States. Since it began in 1997, communities across the country have participated in America Recycles Day on November 15 to educate, promote environmental citizenship, and encourage action.
Recycling Makes Sense
Recycling allows us to reuse materials, which in turn conserves natural resources. It also saves water and energy, improves air and water quality, lowers pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and preserves landfill space. After we’ve worked hard to reduce our consumption the need for recycling becomes important.
Recycling is Easy
1. Make recycling a habit
Create an indoor spot where recyclables are collected before they make their way to the outdoor bins. Place a recycle bin in your kitchen to hold all your recyclables before you take them outside. This will make it easier to remember to recycle, you won’t have recyclables cluttering your counter space, and you’ll make fewer trips outside.
2. Make recycling convenient
Recycling systems are actually very personal. They are created based upon the layout of your home and they need to work for you and your family. If it’s not a convenient system it’s not going to work.
Different recycling requirements are in place depending upon where you live. If you live in an area where you need to sort your recycling you’ll need to set up a bin system that accommodates this.
If you live an area with a single stream recycling program you can place all of your recyclables together in one bin.
Find a system that is convenient and works well for your family. Making recycling and access to your recycling bins convenient is the only way recyclables will end up where they should.
3. Find Bins That Work Within Your Space
Keep Recyclables Out of Sight
Do you cringe when you see recyclables piling up on the counter or a trash bin sitting out in plain view? Do you like clean counters and closed doors? If you answered yes to both then you are most likely an Out of Sight (but not Out of Mind Recycler). Check out The Hidden Recycler from Home Depot. It attaches to the inside of a cabinet door to collect recyclables out of sight and keeps your counters clear. The bag is durable, machine washable, and is made of recycled material. Collect your recyclables and simply take them out to your recycle bin. This is a great product for single stream recyclers.
Combine Trash and Recyclables
The 2-in-1 Recycler contains trash and recyclables all in one location. The top bin is perfect for collecting recyclables the lower bin tilts out to hold your trash. The 2-in-1 Recycler could also be used to sort two different types of recyclables.
Keep Recyclables Outside
If you don’t have the space to sort your recyclables inside then check out The Stackable Recyclers from Home Depot. They’re the perfect solution for storing recyclables outside or in the garage. Three sizes can be stacked and interchanged to suit your sorting needs.
The Home Depot has a great assortment of Rubbermaid® Recycling bins available in their stores. There is an even bigger assortment of Rubbermaid® Recycling bins available on homedepot.com with 44 different products to choose from.
(This post is brought to you by Home Depot and Rubbermaid. All opinions are my own. For more information on sponsored posts, read here.)
photo credit: Rubbermaid Products via photopin cc