We have two trash cans in the kitchen. One is for trash and the other is for recyclables. The trash company separates all the rcyclables from the one large bin they give you, though we also get a yard waste bin too.

We live in an unincorporated area of the county. We have three large "trash bins." One has a red label on it that says GARBAGE, one has a green label that says GREEN WASTE, and the third has a blue label that says RECYCLABLE. We don't have to sort the stuff to be recycled -- the metal and plastic stuff has to be clean, though (no food scraps, etc.)

We always take our own bags into the grocery store, so on the rare occasion when we buy too much to go into our bags, we always get paper bags. Then we use those to put magazines, etc., that need to go out to the recycle bin.

We don't ever take any cans, bottles, etc., to be turned in for cash. Although it would amount to a tidy sum, the hassle just isn't worth it. We just put it all into the 90-gallon recycle bin and let the county take it and recycle it.

At work I've got a box under my desk for paper, cardboard, etc., to be recycled; and in all of the break rooms and in the cafeteria they have boxes to collect bottles and soda cans to be recycled. There is a special crew that comes in to get all the stuff to be recycled.

We just use the bins the town/city supply. They give us a rectangular bin for paper, and a trash can-sized one for the glass, aluminum, and plastic. Doesn't really take any organization--we just toss each item into the appropriate bin, and put at the curb on trash day. Our town has required recycling by law for probably 15-20 years by now--it's just a matter of habit for most of us. And it's a good habit to get into. The town has to PAY to dispose of the trash they collect, but they COLLECT $$$ for the recyclables, so it's an easy way to do something to help try to keep your property taxes a little lower.

Does anyone else's town do this (ours doesn't)--one town in our area has a program where, when they collect your recyclables, they weigh them, and residents are rewarded for recycling with gift cards to local merchants. It's all computerized--the bins have a bar code on them, I believe, that identifies the customer's account. Sounds like a really good program to encourage everyone to recycle. I know my dd has a friend in that town, so dd gives her her recyclables if she's going to see her, since DD lives where this isn't the case.

Now I use the bin from the city.

But at my last house I had a box in the garage (narrow tall) for aluminum cans, another box just the right size for newspaper, and the only plastic they took were milk bottles, which I strung on some string. Glass went in yet another box.

Whenever one of the boxes was full I would take it to the recycle center, along with all other boxes that were at least half full.

There I would separate the glass, as brown, green and clear went in different containers.

Sure is lazy here now. All in one box, that gets emptied once a week, about an hour after regular trash comes through.

Moni

We have to take all our recyclables to the center, no pick up around here. Off our kitchen is a guest bath with a tub, which is never used. So in that tub I have 6 brown handle bags, one each for aluminum, steel, plastic, glass, newspaper/magazines and one for burnable scraps of paper. As they get filled, we empty them into bigger bags in the garage downstairs, bags that 50# of corn came in. We take those to the center when they're full. I also have a plastic bag filled with plastic bags, I give those to my mother, she uses them for scooping solids out of the litter box.

We do have recycle pickup the first Thursday of the month, but we also have the big bins so we can take our own. I noticed the last time that I went, they were combining different kinds, whereas earlier each had a separate bin. I have a little room (I call it the dungeon!) at the end of my back porch, so everything goes in separate bags in there until I haul it away.

We recycle cans & bottles, certain plastics and paper/cardboard. The city supplies a rectangular container, but since they only collect every other trash day we usually need two containers, especially around the holidays. With the huge amount of newsprint between Thanksgiving & Christmas we sometimes have to take the paper (but not cardboard) to our church's recycling bin to avoid smothering under the volume. We embraced the recycling program from the beginning. It's no trouble at all and makes me feel like I'm at lease trying in a small way to slow down the creation of more mountains of landfill. However between you and me I sometimes wonder if the city really does dispose of the recyclables in the proper way.

We have 3 crates in the garage labeled "Plastic/Metal/Glass", "Newspaper/Junk Mail", and "Cardboard". The overflow ends up in spare crates below them on the floor.

I have plastic bins for plastic and glass, I save newsprint for the fireplace, and the cardboard, slick paper ads and mags go in a paper bag. We have to haul our stuff to the recycle center about 20 miles away and I just take it in when I go. The dh saves his aluminum cans and takes them in to sell. He can make a tidy sum, but he only does it about every 3-4 months, so he can accumulate a lot. I haul all kinds of cans home when I go on my walks, and the neighbor across the street "gifts" me when the wind blows and his trash winds up on our fence. I shred junk mail and that goes out in the compost pile. Food scraps go out to the chickens.

We put all the grocery store bags inside a grocery store bag. (only use them when I forget to bring my reusable bags to the store, a new habit that's hard to start) As for everything else, we put it in a Rubbermaid storage bin. We separate it at the recyclers. Come this fall, all our recyclables will be curb side pick up!!! I can't wait!!! We won't have to separate anything, they'll do it for us. Finally somewhere to bring our cleaner bottles too. Right now, none of the recycling bins take laundry or bleach jugs. I have a collection of them downstairs because I just hate the thought of recycling pop bottles, yet dumping cleaner bottles in the dump.