Recycling Green Moms

                When it’s a cold  winter night, the thought of bringing your empty soup can out to the recycling bin can seem like the last thing you want to do…after all, the garbage is so much closer, and it’s inside! This is a great reason why you need to set up a easy system in the house. Move the trash can outside instead. Many of us can be pretty lazy when it comes to recycling; even with the green movement in full force, people are still inclined to put things in the trash instead of heading over to the recycling bin, or center in their town. The truth is that recycling is extremely important for many reasons, and with a little effort it can be easier then you think!

                If you think you’re just too lazy to head over to your recycling center with your old cans, and bottles, consider reusing whatever you can. If you’re a bottled water drinker, try to refill those bottles with filtered tap water that you can keep in the fridge; re-use jam or peanut butter jars as toddler toys, or pencil holders. You’ll be surprised at how many things you can re-use! Buying previously recycled goods is another easy way to “recycle..” You can get paper products that are made with recycled goods by Seventh Generation. By reusing, and purchasing materials made with reused goods, you are doing your part in conserving the earths natural resources.

                You can create an easy “at home” recycling center using different colored containers for plastics, glass, metals, and paper materials. Have your kids label and decorate their bins, and use a “reward” system to encourage them to recycle. Having a “scrap” material box is another way for kids to get excited for recycling; scraps of paper, natural materials, and cardboard can be used to make art projects, and for other creative endeavors. School lunches can be recycled too! Websites like lunch in a box, show parents great ways to use Bento Boxes to make easy, healthy lunches that don’t use paper bags, or plastic to make. Nix the juice boxes for plastic containers, switch to cloth napkins, and you’re good to go!

                Making something “brand new” sucks up a ton of energy; there’s new materials that need to be created to make the finished project, machines are buzzing, things are getting measured and thrown out..just thinking about how much wasted energy is going into making one tiny plastic toy can be horrific! Creating goods out of recycled materials is one way to conserve energy, and by heading to your blue recycling bin after having that can of soup, or finishing that bottle of juice, you are doing your part in energy preservation.  Besides conserving energy, you are working to preserve our forests, rain forests, oceans, and other wildlife homes. When you recycle, the need for brand new goods is lowered, and we are able to cut back on chopping down trees, and heading into the wild for natural resources. If you can think of no other reason to recycle, think of the animals!

                By recycling, you are cutting down on landfill space. Our garbage piles up; each year over fifty BILLION tons of garbage pile up in landfills…if we all did our part in re-using, and recycling goods we could cut that back substantially. Solid waste also effects our ozone layer…the more we throw out, the crappier our air quality, and the amount of  carbons that are released into the air. Some of the best materials to recycle are: paper, electric goods, cans, and bottles. These are all common household items, and you can simply set up a smell free recycling center in your own home, to do your part.