I like recyclying

[TheDon]

I got my family to start recycling a month ago.. and its soo awesome.

now we are down to 3 bags of trash a week( twice a week pickup).. down from two fully loaded 55 gallon sized trash bins. Instead I have like two full sized tubs, and 5 milk crates full of recyclables with more still in the trash!

not bad for a family of 5.. I Get home every night from work and.. oddly pick through the trash...

Come on Carlos(step dad)... coke cans are not trash...

I asked my mom if we can start composting again since she used to do it when we had a house in CT..

I also saw by my other job.. an insurance vehicle auction.. with a few priuses with rear or minor front end damage.. I want to go buy one for what ever costs and make it a pure electric vehicle...

I found my calling.. I truly have... I want to use my future degree of Engineering to make things "green"

Carleton.. can I drive your electric?

[LaRondo]

I like recycling too.
I remodeled an entire condo with previously used and refurbished materials. It was so much fun, esp. because materials were mostly free of charge, plus skills and creativity were challenged and put to work.

In recent years I notice, people have fallen behind on the recyling option, in fact there seems to be a huge gap in knowledge on what can and cannot be recycled.
The educational campaign should be renewed, citizens are slacking and once again contributing to huge land fills.

[dynalow]

I have a client who is in the recycling brokerage business.
First met him over 20 years ago, when he was spinning pizzas across the street from my office. His FIL was in the scrap metal business and client saw that recycling was going to be the wave of the future. He only had a high school education, but he's one of the smartest "uneducated" men I have ever met.
Long story short, he and his FIL started recycling, getting paid in those days to remove it from businesses and getting paid to sell it to paper mills, etc. here and abroad. Over time, they expanded into recycling plastics as well as paper and were very successful.

They disolved their partnership a few years ago and my client now lives in FLA and brokers recycling material through the supplier and user network here and abroad he spent 20 years developing. Say he gets an order from Asia. He calls his suppliers, makes the purchase, calls the shipper to pick up the order and take it to Baltimore or Newark or wherever, gets payment from abroad before the ship leaves the pier in the states. (He has an agent in Hong Kong). Office in home with a phone and fax. That's his overhead. No employees except him and his wife. Works about three hours a day or so, gets by on the very nice six figure income he's making.

"One man's trash is another man's treasure"

My advice to you is to learn to think outside the box.

[eagle-co94]

You'll love what Winter Haven FINALLY did last week...dropped off recycling bins at all the houses on my street. It's FULL of paper (junk mail) already!

I'm keeping my aluminum (accessory brackets, old water pump housings) in the garage for my next trip to the scrap yard.

[TheDon]

Originally Posted by eagle-co94

You'll love what Winter Haven FINALLY did last week...dropped off recycling bins at all the houses on my street. It's FULL of paper (junk mail) already!

I'm keeping my aluminum (accessory brackets, old water pump housings) in the garage for my next trip to the scrap yard.

I did notice.. I was like.. wow winter haven residents recycle a lot but then I saw the truck tossing them into the yards... I had to call the county to get mine... since Davenport.. sucks


I need a bigger bin... I have the small one that came with the house that I put paper and cardboard in. The bigger one is for the cans,glass, plastics, etc etc... as well as a load of milk crates with other recyclables in them.

[Pete Geither]

I still wonder why we don't have the technology to sort trash at the landfills. Once they figure that out, the problem is solved. And don't tell me I can't send my "toxic" wastes there either. Landfills are the most highly regulated pieces of property on the planet, with a lining under them that a nuke wouldn't penetrate,,, I am told. Where better to put our old paint and batteries ?

[eagle-co94]

Landfill liners are little more than glorified glad bags.

[dynalow]

Originally Posted by Pete Geither

I still wonder why we don't have the technology to sort trash at the landfills. Once they figure that out, the problem is solved. And don't tell me I can't send my "toxic" wastes there either. Landfills are the most highly regulated pieces of property on the planet, with a lining under them that a nuke wouldn't penetrate,,, I am told. Where better to put our old paint and batteries ?

Pete,
Maybe the compacting done on the trash trucks makes landfill sorting impractical or impossible. It would be more time consuming at any rate to sort it by hand at the landfill rather than pick it up at curbside pre-sorted by the homeowner or business, imo. Some kind of magnet system attracting metal from a moving trash source might work for metal, but what about paper and plastics?

Our county has a couple of free disposal days where HO's can dispose of paint, solvents, chemicals, etc free at the landfill, but I doubt they bury it there. That probably gets hauled to Kentucky. Just kidding.
I'm not sure what material our landfill liners are made of or how thick they are.

[75Sv1]

I think a lot of us on this board are driving 20 or more year old cars. Thats recycling to an extent. I bought some used tires on BMW rims. The tires fit my 240D. The tires on my 240D fit my 96 Ford Contour that needed tires. I paid $100 for tires and wheel. Paid about $100 for swapping the tires. I cleaned the wheels and got $52, dirty price though.
They have a recycle center out here and recycle dumpsters at the landfill. Paper, cardboard and plastic and glass. I shread all junkmail, a fold up cardboard. Just me, so about 1 to two plastic baggies (the pastic shopping bags) per week. I use a mulching mower, so no grass clippings etc. into the landfill. They won't take them anyways. I hear a large percentage of landfill is/used to be yard waste.
Recycle oil too. A neighbor has a used oil burner. Many shops are using them, so not hard to find someone to take it.
Tom

[catmandoo62]

Originally Posted by Pete Geither

I still wonder why we don't have the technology to sort trash at the landfills. Once they figure that out, the problem is solved. And don't tell me I can't send my "toxic" wastes there either. Landfills are the most highly regulated pieces of property on the planet, with a lining under them that a nuke wouldn't penetrate,,, I am told. Where better to put our old paint and batteries ?

here in my county we do just that.as the landfill is predicted to be full in about 3 yrs or so.they set up a recycling center by the landfill all monday-tuesday pickups is recycleables only and in clear bags only,they take the trucks and dump the stuff in one end of the building and from there it gets dumped on a big conveyor belt and sorted as it goes down the line.whatever is still there at the other end gets scooped up and sent to the landfill.i know 3 people that work out there,and you wouldn't believe some of the nice stuff they pick out of the trash.2 things that get my goat are tires,and appliances.i went to my buddies salvage yard the other night to get rid of an old furnace.he said he could'nt take it as it was considered an appliance.said he needed a demanufacturers permit from the state.said for the cost of the permit it wasn't worth messing with.he happens to work on the county road dept during the day.i told him with this stupid crap there is is gonna be more stuff showing up in the ditches at night.and sure enough you should se the huge pile of crap they have at the county yard.tv's,friges,washers dryers,stoves and a mountain of tires.i don't know what it's like in other parts of the country but here it costs like 20 bucks to get rid of an old appliance.i hate new laws but i feel that if places sell either tires or appliances that for everyone they sell they should have to take one in return.it sure works for batteries.

[SwampYankee]

Originally Posted by catmandoo62

here in my county we do just that.as the landfill is predicted to be full in about 3 yrs or so.they set up a recycling center by the landfill all monday-tuesday pickups is recycleables only and in clear bags only,they take the trucks and dump the stuff in one end of the building and from there it gets dumped on a big conveyor belt and sorted as it goes down the line.whatever is still there at the other end gets scooped up and sent to the landfill.i know 3 people that work out there,and you wouldn't believe some of the nice stuff they pick out of the trash.2 things that get my goat are tires,and appliances.i went to my buddies salvage yard the other night to get rid of an old furnace.he said he could'nt take it as it was considered an appliance.said he needed a demanufacturers permit from the state.said for the cost of the permit it wasn't worth messing with.he happens to work on the county road dept during the day.i told him with this stupid crap there is is gonna be more stuff showing up in the ditches at night.and sure enough you should se the huge pile of crap they have at the county yard.tv's,friges,washers dryers,stoves and a mountain of tires.i don't know what it's like in other parts of the country but here it costs like 20 bucks to get rid of an old appliance.i hate new laws but i feel that if places sell either tires or appliances that for everyone they sell they should have to take one in return.it sure works for batteries.

Sad but true. Our town is pretty good about taking stuff ($10 for a yearly household pass which is unlimited +$10 for anything with freon in it-which is ironic because they sell the freon to a recovery outfit) but I know a lot of municipalities make it very tough and real expensive. Which is why you see so much crap left at the side of the road, in ditches or at the end of dead-end roads. If it they made it easy and reasonable you'd get stuff disposed of properly and safely. Sure it costs money to process all of it, but it's a lot more expensive to have a crew go out and pick it up off the side of the road, do the site remediation if necessary and then pay to process it since so few illegal dumpers are ever caught.

I'm far from a greenie but I do recycle everything I can because it effects my bottom line. I think the latest CT Resource & Recovery stats were that less than 30% of the trash they take in is separated, which is why it costs so much to have our trash picked up, which effects the amount of our property taxes. Even so we do generate about a can and a half of garbage a week. I am somewhat interested in a composter for food scraps though and might look into what've involved since my wife has a lot of flower beds I could use the compost on.

[Pete Geither]

I do recycle here at the shop and , of course, have my wastes picked up by reputable recyclers. Every year about this time, I take all of the aluminum we get off of wrecked cars, and there is a TON,,, wheels, bumper rebars, hoods, condensors, radiators, etc, and usually get enough $ to take care of most of my Christmas shopping.,, except for the wife. There is never enough scrap aluminum for that.

[TheDon]

driving a used car is alot better than driving a new one.. heck. my car has seen 5 owners .. the original.. then a second.. the third passed it through her family.. then to me...

At publix we sell the reusable fabric bags.. for $.99 each.. I sell at least a case a day to the tourist from out of the country.. they like them as well as our regular customers..

I have a few in my car.. I need to get some for my mom.. I need to get her into using them as well

I bring my oil to autozone to be recycled instead of dumping it in the trash like some idiots..

I flip off and curse Hummer drivers every day...

I shred all of my junk mail and such.. I use that as kindling for our firepit.

I shop with a green mindset.. if it has too much packaging.. I don't buy it


even at the GTG I just had.. I tried to have a bin for cans and such..


maybe my next project should be.. converting an 80's SL to electric.. or a 190E... I can find those with toasted engines.... hmmmmmmmmmm.. That way I get the best of both.. a Mercedes and an Electric car

[TheDon]

I bought a pack of those fancy fluorescent lights and a 55 gallon rubber made tub for my recyclables... shazam

[kknudson]

I'm big into recycling, sometime I think I waste more time than it's worth. But it feels good.

Electronics are a big problem into landfills, I try to recycle as much as I can.

Interesting they had a show on Discoveery the other night, companies that demolish buildings. They recycle as much as they can. In fact one building was demolished for nothing, the company figured they would make their money back on the recyclables.

Some people drive me nuts though, the folks across the street are cleaning house (Divorce and Boyfriend moved in). The stuff they throw out is incredable. Not just needing to be recycle, perfectly good stuff.
Several Hose reels, beautiful Tiki torches all metal with copper cans, Xmas stuff, some still in the box. Scooters, one electric that I didn't get in time, but I got a regular scooter, top quality, needs a quick cleaning.

Oh and an Air Cleaner, perfect, just like new ???

WHY ????