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Yes it's the last of the triad -- reducing and reusing should always come first. Still, recycling helps divert many tons of unwanted stuff from the landfill. Thus -- a guide, along with a list of all the crazy stuff I've managed to recycle* over the years.
1. Get recycling bins. Homeowners often just get blue bins along with their black and green ones, but situations are more varied for renters. If you live in an apartment, ask your city how you can get recycling bins at your place.
2. Know what to blue-bin. Funny thing: Every city has its own set o' crazy recycling rules. Learn the rules that apply to you, and one day we'll all get together to exchange recycling trivia.
3. Locate your local household hazardous waste and e-waste centers. The former's for stuff you shouldn't dump the drain, like expired meds and motor oil; the latter for electronics. These city-run sites often have bizarre hours and rules, so make sure you know what's up by calling or checking out the website before heading over.
4. Make money off your old electronics. City e-waste centers should be a last resort for electronics -- because taking 'em there means you're saddling the city with some of the costs (i.e. paying for it with your tax dollars) of recycling these complicated things.
First, try reselling your old electronics. I've made a whopping $6.50 off an old laptop, for example. Perhaps more helpfully, here are some ways to make money off your old cell.
If that doesn't work, try to take electronics back to the manufacturer or the store you bought them first -- Many will even give you credits toward a new electronic purchase.
5. Get obsessive. Look hard enough, and you'll find ways to recycle pretty much everything:
>> Ink cartridges. You can recycle these, but consider reusing them first.
>> Wine corks. Save up both the plastic and the natural cork types and send 'em in to be upcycled.
>> Tennis shoes. I dropped mine off at the nearest Nike store.
>> Produce stickers. There's a dude who uses 'em to create art.
>> CDs and DVDs. Yes, some mail-in programs exist, but I find it easier to just drop them off at Best Buy.
6. Remember to close the loop! When you need to buy something new, try to opt for products with recycled content.
* Here, I'm defining recycling roughly as going through a new manufacturing process, vs. simply being repurposed as something else. For ex, using old newspaper as mulch for your garden seems more like reusing to me, while putting that newspaper into a blue bin to be remanufactured into new paper is recycling.
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BlogHer Contributing Editor Siel also blogs at greenLAgirl.com.
Blue bins photo by Clydehouse
