Even some of the most undisciplined or busiest people can find a few seconds to recycle. If even the busiest people take a moment to recycle, it would make such a big overall difference. When we look outside and see all the gorgeous tree we don't want to have to picture what it would be like to not have all of those trees anymore.
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Easy Recycling at Home
Glass
Some people have their homes very set up for a simple, yet extensive recycling. Don't throw everything into the garbage, including food. Have two bins or buckets outside. Whenever you finish food that is made in a glass container, rinse it out and put it into the bucket meant for glass. Wine and beer bottles are recyclable as well as cider glass jars.
You can put broken glass into the bucket – possibly even from mirrors – broken or in one piece.
Plastic, paper, and metal
It doesn't take long to rinse out a jug of juice. And if you don't feel like taking the time to sort through paper, just dump the basics – junk mail and the spare envelopes from bills into the recycling for this group of recyclables. That way, at least you are doing a portion of it. Some recycling is better than none.
Compost
Many cities are starting to add food to their recycling program. They have special containers for this and biodegradable bags for it, but the bags are not free. This is more of an extra step and a way to take care of the parts of food you don't finish. Rather than adding them to the garbage, they go into the container and they don't add to the landfill they are added to the soil.
Even though the bags are usually expensive, there are places you might be able to get them for less money. Composting is actually a step ahead of basic recycling until you get the hang of it so it is not a basic recycling step that everyone takes in the beginning.
Conserving Energy
This next one is very common, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded. Remembering to shut off the light when you leave the room. Some of us forget to do that. But not only does it help to conserve energy, but it also makes a financial difference on your electric bill. An extra step is to get the energy-efficient light bulbs. They cost a bit more initially, but they last a lot longer. And they are much more friendly to the environment.
Saving Water
Water is another thing we can make a big difference. Simply shutting off the water when you are not directly using it. Get your hands wet, turn off the water, suds up for 20 seconds, turn the water back on to rinse and off with the water again.
While brushing your teeth – dip your toothbrush in water, turn the water off. Add your toothpaste and brush. No real need to turn the water on for at least two minutes.
These seem like such basic things people should already know, but we need to remind ourselves. Showering – if we take 10-15 minute showers instead of 20 – that conserves water. There are probably a lot of other ways to save water that are not mentioned here.
Recycling at Work
Tons of businesses already have recycling set up. Sharing their recycling is even a form of advertising since it makes customers appreciate their concern and effort for the environment.
Reusing
Believe it or not, when you get a lot of the paper you use, lunch bags for your lunch, use plastic wear to eat with a lot of these are at least 30% post-recycled materials. It is kind of cool when businesses and restaurants do this. When you eat at these restaurants or use products that have a portion of recycled materials you are contributing to living green.
What do you do to help the environment?
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