Today’s green living tip is easy: recycle more. Don’t automatically toss trash into the garbage can. How to transition away from using the rubbish bin for everything? Take a look at the number of garbage cans in your home. If each room has a garbage can, then each room should have a recycling bin.This can even be a garbage can that has been deemed a ‘recycling bin.’
It may take a little getting used to so a sign might be helpful. I like the recycling bins that are visible to look pretty, too, so I’ve used baskets that once held other items. My family had to get used to the change of not always tossing items. Our baskets are used for paper that should go into the recycling bin but is now used as scratch paper, first, and then recycled. It didn’t happen overnight but making habits easy to change is the simplest way to get them to stick. (Don’t forget, you can compost, too!)
By limiting garbage cans (or eliminating them altogether) from rooms, it has made it more difficult to toss items directly into the trash. This makes us stop and think before we automatically trash stuff. Save money by using baskets and containers you already have on hand. No need to buy new – just reuse!
What containers do you like to reuse? What’s your favorite source for baskets?
Go Gingham Earth Month:
To celebrate April as “Earth Month,” I’m sharing a tip every day this month. Find all the tips by clicking the image below.
You’ll find simple and easy ideas to implement at your home – and they’ll save money as well!
Go Gingham 
Good idea, Sara! Especially if you start training your children in recycling later in their lives. We were recycling before we had kids, so they have grown up thinking that recycling is “normal”, but I bet it would be hard to re-train older kids. I still laugh when I think about my son who asked Santa for “paper with nothing on the back” for Christmas–we always re-used the backs whatever paper we had on hand for his artwork. Santa did come through with a drawing pad that year. 🙂
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Oh your poor child! That is a great story!!
Yes, any way to get those kids on board before they wise up is good.
Thanks, Kris!
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We have a garbage and a recycling bin in the bathroom, one on each side of the toilet. It’s kind of amazing how much stuff you use in the bathroom that can be recycled. A former middle school student of Jeff’s gave us this idea, and we’ve been doing it for years. Having both handy makes it easier to choose to recycle. I live with the recycling police, so I would actually bring something out of the bathroom instead of throw it in the trash if the bin weren’t there, but it’s easier to recycle if the bin’s already there, particularly when you’re trying to build the habit.
Love that story of the kid who asked for clean paper from Santa. I only put recycled paper in the printer in my school library, and this is kind of a big issue for some kids. I’m trying to bring them around to the idea that it’s really OK, but I love that Santa brought a clean drawing pad as a treat!
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