I live downtown in small little apartment and recycling is actually provided for us here. I have two bins in my spot for recycling. Typically the items that are recycled are paper(packaging, receipts, and mail mostly), food containers/packaging, beer boxes and cans seem to take up more space then I care to explain. haha. 🙂 I am not perfect, still catching myself saying its ok this time, and think that recycling can be inconvenient. But its worth it! I think once recycling becomes a bigger priority for people and the government it will become just as easy as throwing whatever it is away. It will just depend on which bin.
I always have a guilty conscience about water usage. I have and use a dishwasher which I know uses A LOT more water than washing them by hand, but I try to use it sparingly and do the pots and pans by hand. I definitely need to try and use less water. Using less power seems like a problem i’ve had since I was a kid, but turning off things is something i’ve been more aware of lately. The lights, tv, and xbox are my biggest problem areas. Also shutting the fridge timely is something my dad would always get on my case about. I wonder how much energy it takes to replace the amount of cool air every time we open the fridge? Anyone?
I seldom buy bottled water and use a brits filter if I need to get hydrated. Like Michele I take reusable bags to the grocery store. Although every once in a while I will forget and end up with several plastic bags, but I will use those bags as garbage bags for my bathroom trash or the cat. I’ll wrap them to his feet. Hilarious. Does that count as a reuse? I will also use the produce bags as sandwich baggies or something similar. I’ll even reuse zip lock bags if I can.
I have a hard time with consumerism, and the messages that we send people of convenience. Buy more stuff because its cool! Ya! how about buy more stuff because you NEED it. I can’t believe there was a 20% drop in their collection during the recession. That was one thing that stuck out to me from what Ashlee said. I fell like I could go on and on about the 3 R’s, but being more about not being wasteful will have an impact in each area.
