Jan Alaska

Do you recycle cans and bottles ? we collect all ours up and once a month take them into Wal-Mart / Glens / wherever, stand for 20 mins and recycle them. This way we get our deposit back (10c / can), get to annoy the lady on the check out (we always tell her she'll probably need to put her light on) and keep the amount of trash we produce down.

Now yesterday I was standing in the que in Walgreens and this fella was having a fit at the woman behind the checkout about having to pay the 10c deposit on his Labatts. He had a young son standing with him and proceeded to tell the woman that he shouldnt have to pay the deposit because in Colorado where he comes from nobody bothers to recycle, apparently when hes finished his drink (he says holding up an Empty Labatts can) he just throws it out the car window ! At first I was pretty shocked then felt compelled to say something so I commented on his disgusting habits, told him what a great example he was to his son and even managed to mention that his wife must be very proud before he stalked off out the store (without the Labatts) the woman behind the checkout just smiled.

I thought that can and bottle recycling were pretty common throughout US.

Jan

cuckoofrommars

I recycle my cans and bottles at Wegmans, and once a week a recycling trucxk comes around for paper and plastic.

Recycling is very expensive and alot of communities just opt out of it. A few counties next to mine have decided due to the cost of it to stop as of now.

I will say that the most impressive place I've been regards recycling is Toronto. All over the city you can't fail to spot a recycling bin. It made me feel a little dissapointed that major cities in the UK don't seem to have anywhere near as good a system.

thing1

I'm originally from Missouri. They used to have a 5 cent deposit that you could get when you returned your cans and bottles. This helped inspire people to save their cans and bottles intead of chucking them thoughtlessly away. The last time I went back for a visit I saw my own mother throwing soda cans away. I was upset by her actions and asked her what she was doing. That is when she told me that they no longer have the 5 cent deposit on bottles and cans anymore and they weren't worth anything. Of course I said, "who cares, you should be recycling anyway." Honestly, I would recycle my soda/beer cans and bottles anyway even if there wasn't the promise of getting my money back, but I know I am in the minority. I feel like all states should have to pay a deposit on soda/beer to inspire recycling.

As for the other general recycling...for as long as recycling has been available to the general public, I have tried to do my best to recycle what I can. In Missouri we didn't have curb side service so I had to drive all my recycling to the bins at our local grocery store. Here in GR city limits, curb side recycling is a free service that we happily use. But just because it is a service that is there and free doesn't mean that everyone is going to take advantage of it. There are a lot of people who can't be bothered to take off a label and rinse out a can or break down a cardboard box.

mandpete

We have 2 recycling buckets from the township. A green bucket for paper and cardboard and a yellow one for cans and plastic/glass bottles. The township collect them every other Monday. Large cardboard boxes can be left outside with the buckets and they take them as well. Pizza boxes cannot be recycled and neither can yogurt pots and certain other plastic containers, so we have to check the recycle number on the containers. It took a while getting used to putting things in the different buckets but we do our bit for the environment.

All the parks here have regular trash cans and the yellow and green recycling buckets.

scrubbedexpat099

I can only speak for Boulder County - http://www.ecocycle.org

I thought that relative to other US places, CO was better than average. There is no Deposit scheme I have come across.

Shall we just say that they seem more on the ball than London, which is not admittedly hard.

And as far as tossing rubbish out of windows, well you get slobs everywhere.

NC Penguin

Ever since I've lived in Durham (City and County), NC, I've had recycling pickup.

At the apt, there were huge communal bins for newspaper, cardboard (a big covered skip), recyclable metal, and recyclable plastics. However, some lazy neighbors don't bother to separate their recyclables and just dump all their recyclables in one bin.

Now I'm living in a house, the same recyclables are picked up curbside on Mondays. I have a separate crate for them.

I have to take other cardboard recyclables (cardboard from food packaging, batteries, telephone books, etc.) to a different location, about 5 mins drive away behind a shopping center.

I don't quite understand Boiler's comments about recycling in London. When I live in Wimbledon (borough of Merton), there was curbside recycling. This was back in 96/97. When I lived in the borough of Westminster, we took our recyclables with use when shopping and dumped them in the recycling bins next to the supermarket. When I lived in the borough of Camden, we did the same as for Westminster.

So, even if recycling facilities aren't on the doorstep in London, they are close by. BTW, I never drove in London/UK so we transported our recycling on the underground and buses to get to the recycling bins.

sibsie

We have a 5c deposit on our beer bottles in MA. Same for some plastic ones.

We have no rubbish collection at all so we have to take everything to the dump. A dump sticker is $60 a year. It's a bit of a pain in the arse but I'm used to it now.

ScousePete

In the apartment complexes I have lived:

Wisconsin. Separate dumpster for glass.

N. Carolina. Separate dumpster for glass/plastic, separate dumpster for paper.

Colorado. No separation. On big dumpster for all your trash.

Taffyles

We have curbside recycling here, in Sarasota and Manatee counties anyway. The country supplies the bins- one for cans, bottles and plastic, the other for newspapers, magazines etc - empty cardboard boxes we just leave out piled up beside the rubbish bin. They collect the recycling weekly, garden refuse weekly and ordinary household rubbish twice a week. It's been like this for the last 12 years. Must admit its the best place I've ever lived for refuse collection- they'll take anything away here. They even have a special collection every few months for electrical stuff, old computers, microwaves, batteries etc.

scrubbedexpat099

I lived in Southwark (Bermondsey) until March, and just one big Dumpster and it was hard to do anything else.

I suppose I was thinking of some German friends who stayed with me and were absolutely horrified.

I also used to go to Holland quite regularly, a different situation completely.

I think in Colorado it varies by town, not sure that there are any state ordinaces.

I was taken aback the time I went to to the dump and was charged $20 for dropping off a load.

Where we are now the town do not provide collection, there are two independent contractors, I think we pay $14 a month for 3 bags a week. There is a recycle point down by the Town Hall.

Ash UK/US

I think the can recyling in MI is great I wouldn't want to do it any other way... you seldom see cans/bottles laid around in the streets because even if someone is too lazy to return it for the deposit some one else will come along and pick it up and return it. We also use the fortnightly or should I say Bi weekly curb side pick up too.

Ash

Ash UK/US

we pay per bag for city collection... $1.25 per bag and that has just gone up from $1 per bag.

Ash

Jan Alaska

Here in N Michigan and certainly in our township theres no paper / cardboard recycling scheme. But we can take them to our local recycling depot where theres seperate bins for everything from paper to milk containers to paint and oil.
It just seems to me with all the problems that landfills cause more people should be voluntarily recycling.

Jan

Manc

We should stop accepting Canada's crap for a start.

Jan Alaska

yeah ... why do we process their trash anyways ?