Recycling - just thinking that . . . .

I have a challenge for you. Try recycling everything and anything you can for one week and see how much stuff you really could be recycling. I think you would be totally surprised at how much stuff you throw into the landfill that could be re-used and re-purposed and not left in the landfill to be there forever.

I challenged myself a couple months ago to do more than I had been. I purchased several garbage containers and marked them for the different areas of recycling. (Paper, aluminum, tin/metal cans, plastics light and heavy, and glass) At first it didn't seem like much, but after a week I had to empty the paper and plastic containers and recycle them in the pods by the school by my house. I was totally surprised how much paper that can be recycled, there is soooo much from the mail, newspapers dropped in our from yard, advertisements in the mail, extra papers from mis-prints, papers from the kid's school stuff and the list goes on. I even take the labels of the soup cans and such and recycle the paper from them when I smash down the cans for recycling. The milk jugs and juice jugs really add up too. Oh, and cereal boxes, plastic lining and lightweight paperboard on the outside that paper can also be recycled. That pile builds up quickly at my house. When I go through the junk mail I pull out all the plastic windows in the envelopes and recycle the paper, I was surprised the other day how many envelopes I had recycled for the week, it was a pretty tall stack. I feel better about not leaving such a big footprint on the environment now. All that plastic I had been throwing into the landfill which would never ever disappear just breaks my heart. I'm far more conscientious now. I feel better about recycling. It is more effort and takes some dedication but I feel the extra effort is worth it in the long run. I can only imagine how big of a difference just my family is making and if more would follow in being more dutiful in recycling the difference would be HUGE!!!!

So take the challenge and find out for yourself how much stuff you could be recycling I really think you would be totally surprised. 7 days of a little effort and you will see the pile, and after a month it will be a tall stack I'm sure.