For the love of organizing, RECYCLE

Okay so I admit that the love of organizing is not the first reason most people think about when deciding to recycle.  I'm well aware that there are many more practical and good earthly reasons to recycle things like cans and paper and cardboard and drink containers.  Yet even with all those good reasons being told to me over and over again by some very well intentioned friends, I must say that I was a hard sell. 

I couldn't get past the idea of the clutter, oh my word where was I going to put everything and the rules!  Let's not forget all those darn rules.  Yikes I had enough to worry about, could I really handle trying to remember if something was to be squished down, lids off, rinsed, labels on or off, this box or that and on and on and on.  It exhausted me thinking about it.  In my small town there are no mandatory requirements or curb side pickup so I didn't feel the pressure that way.  Instead I just ignored the whole thing and pretended that any little bit I could do wasn't going to make any sort of difference anyway so really why bother at all.

But you know what?  Every little bit does count and I needed to get with the program.  That's when I realized that recycling was going to require some organization.  And wait one minute but I know organization.  Not to mention the bins I would need.  Boy did that get my attention.  Bins did someone say bins!  Now you are talking my language.  All of a sudden I became this mad woman on a mission.  Not only did I have rules to learn but I had bins to buy.  Whee!!

First thing I did was figure how many bins I would need.  For my area, I would need three, one for paper/cardboard, one for milk cartons and one for cans and bottles.  Thankfully I have a door right in my kitchen that leads out to the garage so it was very easy for me to set something up right outside the door without taking up any additional space in my kitchen.  To keep with the recycling theme I came up with a very inexpensive way to recycle something to contain all my bins for only $5.00.  Yep that's right, I purchased an old microwave stand at a garage sale and re-purposed it as my recycling station.  It works perfectly for our needs for not a lot of money.

Of course it's not as pretty as my girlfriends recycling center which is so beautifully built right into her kitchen cabinet.  Gosh just take a look how pretty it is.

Isn't that something?!  Now I know we can't all rip out our kitchen cabinets tomorrow to install something like that but no worries there are so many less expensive options available to us now.  So many different types of bins and baskets, even laundry hampers work great in fact.   For plenty of ideas take a look a look at the Container Store or Stacks and Stacks (clicking on the links will take you directly to their recycling sections). I can't help but drool at all they have to offer to help make the recycling experience for us an organized one.  

Need help finding a recycling depot in your area or want to learn more about what can and can't be recycled then please visit Earth911.com. 

Also Mama Goes Green has a terrific article about Recycling Made Simple-Tips & Facts to Green Your Routine that I think you'll find helpful.

How do you organize your recyclables?

PS:  Don't forget to enter to win a $200.00 Patagonia gift certificate!