If there is no local recycling plant, what should I do?

Question

In the spirit of Earth Day, I decided I would improve my life by recycling. But I just checked my local area for any recycling plant, and the closest one is 42.8 miles away. What should I do? Try to find a different method of helping the world, or try to stick to this?

Answer 1

are you sure? where do you live?

i would say try not to produce trash. here is what i do: go shopping with your own cloth shopping bags (they are simple to make). i never bag produce, unless its maybe beans or something tiny.  i have a nice selection of jars, all empty mayonnaise jars and such. its great for storing all kinds of things. food, pens, make into pretty vases, grow plants....speaking of plants....grow your own vegetables and fruits...you can do it indoors too...they are just as pretty as other plants and all your effort is being rewarded in the end by delicious food.

i would choose glass bottles over aluminum cans for several reasons.

there is a form at the postoffice you can fill out and you wont get anymore junkmail.

replace batteries by rechargeable batteries.

maybe there is a hidden talent in you and you can make art out if it???

Answer 2

If you go to school, you should probably recycle and take your bottles and cans there. They will know what to do with them. If you don't you could give your collected bottles and cans to any neighbors or family members who do recycle.

Answer 3

I think there's a couple of routes you could go with this...

1 - 43 miles is too far to travel just to recycle a milk carton.... Arrange a recycling group amongst friends....when you have enough "stuff" to justify travelling to the plant you could take it in turns. However, the cons of this would be organisational problems and rubbish storing up!

2 - Re-use re-use re-use! Slap your wrists every time you forget to take old shopping bags to the Supermarket, make a compost heap for old scraps of food/paper and don't discard small items like elastic bands and sandwich bags.

Answer 4

I wish I could find one also, but I was told with things such as left over wood pieces, paints, etc. you might try donating them to the high schools/middle schools for their plays and projects.

Answer 5

I agree with Lizzy G.  I spoke with a guy who used to be in a similar situation with a long trip to the recycling plant.  He kep a couple of old oil drums and dumped all glass in one and cans in the other.  When they were full he put them on the back of his pick up and drove them the recycling plant.  It helped that he was six foot tall and built like a weightlifter though :-)

But as several people have said re-use as much as possible.  I'd also say that you could use the opportunity to change your life style a little by buying fewer cans of soda, bags of potato chips and so on (assuming you haven't already).

Make sure you compost all the organic waste.  Even non-vegetable waste can be composted, just make sure that the container is secure against the local wildlife.

Unfortunately the only real way to fix this is to campaign for the establishment of a better garbage collecting system.   Takes time and effort, good luck.

You could also join or establish a FreeCycle group, see: http://freecycle.org/

Answer 6

You can try to be active in your community and start informing people of the issue in your town or city.  You can also try to go to the city counsel and ask them to start one in your area.  But try not to give up.  Im sure that others will listen if you try to start recycling in your area.  Talk to alot of people and try to get them involved.

Answer 7

where do you live