Recycling is one of the closest tools that ordinary citizens have to reduce our impact on the environment and to achieve better management of existing natural resources and raw materials. However, sometimes it can be difficult to get it done, especially when the subject is not well known or if you have a small kitchen and it is difficult to find a place to place each of the garbage cans to separate the waste. Despite this, there are simple and imaginative solutions with which to respond to these problems. If you want to know how to recycle garbage at home Without causing major disruptions, keep reading Green Ecologist and we will tell you about it and give you several ideas to recycle garbage and also reuse it.
How to recycle garbage at home - tips
Take note of these singles tips on how to recycle garbage so that you do not have problems or find it difficult to do it at home:
- Learn to differentiate the types of garbage or waste, starting by separating organic waste from inorganic waste. Within the inorganic is the one in which there is more variety to recycle.
- It is very important to know what goes in each recycling container so as not to stir waste and spoil the process. For this, it is super important to know the different recycling symbols.
- Have garbage cans or containers at home to separate garbage for recycling.
- Involve the whole family when it comes to recycling. It is vital teach the little ones this topic so that they keep it in mind in their day-to-day life. Here are some ideas on explaining how to recycle at home to the little ones: How to teach children to recycle garbage.
- Do not let a lot of waste accumulate, it is not necessary to wait for the buckets or bags to overflow to go to throw the garbage in the recycling bins on the street.
- Note that not all waste goes to recycling bins. There are some types of waste that are taken to a clean or green point, others are taken to pharmacies and others can only go to the reject container because they are not recyclable.
- Remember that clean products are recycled much better and without problems at the recycling plant. Therefore, a plastic yogurt cup with remains of it inside may not be recycled well, so it does not cost anything to clean them with a little water or a cloth.
- Keep in mind that here we mention some types and recycling bins colors but that this code may vary according to the country or even according to the locality. Therefore, it is best to inform your local council about this code and current recycling regulations.
What is recycled in each container
As we have indicated, it is very important to know the types of garbage that exist and what goes in each container of recycling. To make this very simple, here is a brief guide on what is recycled in each container:
- Yellow container: plastics and packaging, such as tetrabricks.
- Green container: glass, but not glass.
- Blue container: paper and paperboard.
- Gray container: scraps or reject waste (not recyclable).
- Brown container: organic trash.
In addition, at Ecologista Verde we have prepared several recycling guides for each container that we hope will be very useful to know better how to recycle garbage at home:
- What are the types of recycling bins.
- What can be recycled in the green container.
- What is recycled in the yellow container.
- What is recycled in the blue container.
- What is recycled in the brown container.
- What is recycled in the gray container.
Ideas to recycle garbage and reuse it
Apart from separate garbage properly In order to be able to dispose of it in the corresponding containers, we can recycle or reuse the garbage at home. In Green Ecologist we give you many ideas to recycle garbage at home or reuse objects that maybe you thought they couldn't have more lives before going to waste:
- Ideas for recycling cork stoppers.
- Ideas to recycle yogurt cups.
- Ideas for recycling plastic bags.
- Ideas for recycling plastic bottles.
- Ideas for recycling cans.
- Ideas for recycling glass bottles.
- Ideas for recycling clothes.
Know the recycling symbols and what they mean
As we have said before, it is very important to know well the different recycling symbols:
- Recycling symbol of the three arrows
- Recycling symbols: two arrows
- Recycling symbol: Tidyman
- Plastic recycling symbols
- Glass recycling symbol
- Metal recycling symbols
- E-waste recycling and its symbols
- Symbols of medicine recycling: the SIGRE point
In this article you can learn more about the Recycling Symbols and their meaning and in the video below you will see more practical information.
Recycling bins at home: ideas for organizing them
Not everyone is willing to have multiple garbage cans or bins in the kitchen. The excuses can be varied, from the lack of space or the discomfort of the shared bins, to the self-deception that claims that the amount of garbage produced by a small home is negligible. Despite all this, no recycle at home This is a very serious error, since, no matter how little is the amount of garbage that is not recycled, it is garbage that will remain on the planet for many years and even centuries. In this other post you can discover in detail how long it takes for waste of different types to degrade.
Recycling must always be carried out. and regardless of the circumstances of each person. What will have to be done is to adapt to these circumstances so that it can be effective. Follow these tips to organize bins to recycle garbage at home:
- If there is enough space to have all or some of the containers listed above, it is advisable to place them in the kitchen, behind the door or in a large drawer, because it is the point where we originate the most garbage, but it can also be located in places such as the garage, the garden, the terrace, etc.
- In the cases of small kitchens you can always choose smaller or load-sharing trash cans.
- Another simple option is to avoid the cube and use hanging bags. This system allows better use of the space available on the walls, and is a good option in the case of plastics and containers, which weigh little and do not produce bad odors.
- In the case of recycling paper or glass, it is not necessary to store it in the kitchen. They can also be stored in bags or boxes that are stored in other rooms, such as the distributor, a corridor, in a closet if you do not want it to be visible, or even the terrace. Must take the garbage to the recycling bins on the street every time we go out, so the amount of recyclable material that we will get to store will be very small because we will empty the bags often. We recommend accumulating cardboard and paper in boxes of this same material to throw it all together without having to occupy other bags or containers.
In short, the problem with recycling bins is not the bins, it is wanting to have all the bins placed in line in the kitchen, something that is not always possible. If you can't fit several garbage cans in the kitchen, distribute the waste wisely.
Why it is important to recycle garbage at home
The first thing we have to be clear about is why it is important to recycle garbage at home. Recycling helps reduce a lot of waste and is also a much more environmentally friendly way to obtain raw materials. Thanks to recycling, we can turn plastic bottles and bags into clothes or credit cards, we turn old papers into mail letters or napkins, we get new glass containers without wasting more sand, or we recover heavy metals from technological products. so that they do not have to be extracted from a mine and they do not end up dispersed by the environment. Thus, it is essential to understand that recycling is much more than a fad, is a useful and efficient tool for reduce the amount of garbage we generate and to obtain useful raw materials in the manufacture of a multitude of products that we use every day.
However, for this to take place, it is essential that the end consumers start the process. Public administrations can make an effort to separate some of the elements present in garbage bags. But it is ordinary citizens who with the simple fact of separate garbage at home achieve the best results, which is why it is a fundamental and extremely important task, since they are active protagonists of the process as they are located at the beginning of the recycling chain.
Here is a video from the Green Ecologist channel in which we explain in detail why it is important to recycle garbage.
The importance of the 3Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle
However, although recycling is one of the most important tools we have to reduce litter that we generate and obtain raw materials from waste, we must bear in mind that this is the last phase that we have to choose if we want to benefit the planet. The rule of the three Rs (3R) affirms that the correct process to minimize the impact that human actions have on the environment goes through a matter of preferences.
- It is preferable to reduce.
- It is preferable to reuse.
- It is preferable to recycle.
These preferences are based on the impact these actions have on the environment and available natural resources. The 3R rule It can be applied to any form of consumption, from the clothes we buy, to filling the basket in the market or to the use of technological products or of any other nature. In this way, reducing and amortizing our consumption to the maximum, we reduce the impact that human actions have on the environment and natural resources.
To finish, we want to discover you a step beyond the well-known 3Rs of ecology. Currently, it is convenient to start working, both in companies and at home, the concept of 7R of ecology, among which recycling is only a small part to improve our actions towards the environment.
If you want to read more articles similar to How to recycle garbage at home, we recommend that you enter our Recycling and waste management category.
