Create Your Dedicated Home Recycling Area
jchait - Home & Garden
One way to control your trash is to stock up on smaller garbage cans for your home. Another is to set up a decent recycling center in your house.
Key points:
Set up your recycling area in a high traffic part of the house. Recycling bins on the porch or in the garage will get used less frequently. The kitchen is ideal.
Make sure you have enough bins for your local recycling center. Some cities need you to separate plastics from cans, others don’t care. In Humboldt I had to separate cardboard from paper, but here in OR you can toss those in together. Read about Recycling in Your Community.
If you have kids, make sure they know which bin is which. If you have small kids (pre-readers) you can tape a visual to the bin, such a picture of a soup can.
Aim for attractive and easy to move. Unless you have a dedicated area; such as an in-drawer recycling unit, you may want to move your bins at some point. Attractive bins just ensure that you won’t hide them away. And yes, there are attractive recycling bins. In the next post we’ll look at some.
Do you have a dedicated recycling area?
Cell Phones vs. Landlines for Energy Saving
jchait - Home & Garden
Today, most of the people I know have cells. Many don’t even have landline phones anymore. However, some people I know have both.
Is this a wise use of energy and resources? Or should you ditch the landline phone?
Eco cons of landlines:
- Landlines use more energy. Most need to stay plugged in 24/7; even cordless, because of the charger. Leaving anything plugged in drains energy resources.
- Landline phones are tough to recycle. Some parts can be, but in many cases, you’ll be hard pressed to find a decent recycling center for basic phones.
Eco cons of cell phones
- Cell phone batteries, for the most part are not eco-friendly. Some companies are working on more eco-friendly phones though.
- Cell phones are outdated quickly and don’t last as long as most landlines.
- Cell phones are lost often - another way cell phones cause waste.
The upsides:
Landlines don’t have those toxic batteries, and last a long time. Cell phone recycling programs are becoming very common, and they’re easy to find. Cell phones also use fewer materials to make, and can be unplugged plus charge quickly, using less energy.
What to do:
Some estimate that landlines will soon be obsolete anyhow, which is something to consider. Another fact is that you really don’t need both. If you already have both, it’s probably a smarter eco-choice to ditch the landline. The flip side is if you’re concerned about cell phones causing cancer. This is up for debate, but something to consider. If you’re worried, and having a landline will ease your concerns, it may be healthier stress-wise to have both and only use your cell on the go.
Do you have both landlines and cells in your family? Have you considered ditching one?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment