My family and I have just overhauled our recycling habits. The good news is that our “trash” volume is significantly deplete. The bad news – man its messy! We have small bins into which we put plastics, metals and papers and they fill quickly and of course like everyone else, we’re lazy. You know what that means – overflow! So my new mission is to figure out a way to make the process of recycling a little less painful.

My first thought was to just go to Target and get more trash bins. My husband quickly put the kibosh on that idea reminding me that the whole point of Reduce, ReUse, Recycle is not to purchase MORE plastic containers that will at some point end up in someone’s land fill. I admit it, I pouted. I want to do what I can for the environment but I don’t need it to be at the cost of my neat nick sanity. Still, I relented because he really did have a good point. Plus, why spend more money when we might be able to come up with a better solution?

So we maintained the current status quo for a few weeks. We stacked more efficiently and were more careful with filling the bins and then emptying them. We also got to be pros at rinsing absolutely everything so at least even if there was a mess it was just mess and not completely gross.

But still, I was bothered. The extra clutter, the extra stuff spilling out when it wasn’t being maintained properly and the general messiness were just driving me crazy. So I did it, I snuck online. I figured instead of being “wasteful” and finding three or more new trash bins, I would be able to find something super efficient.

I thought to myself:

“Hey Self, there must be someone out there who has come up with the solution to this problem in a reasonable and cost effective way.”

So I did go online and I found a couple of good solutions but I was totally appalled at how much they cost.

My top two were both far more than I would be willing to spend on a trash can. Even at Target the costs were high.

The Smart Bin Waste / Recycling Bin

I liked this option a lot – there are two sizes (2 bin and 3 bin) and this was the only option I found with three bins. I liked the simple design and the price, still high for my tastes, was reasonable and not bad for the feature set. Of course, you can only order it online which is kind of a pain, but if you have the money, I think this could be the best bin out there – at least within easy clicking.

Residential and Home Recycling Systems

I liked this option. It is robust but I liked the feeling of the site and the way they designed their bins. I mean, hey, I like a hexagonal recycling bin! I also liked the frame to hold the bins together so they wouldn’t get knocked around too much by my resident 4 year old peace destroyer and her two canine cohorts. You can get a “system” of two bins and a frame for as little as $137.85 so considering the features and options for expansion, I think this system is very worth mentioning.

But of course, I proposed both of these to the man of the house and he goggled at me. He was unwilling to invest – and I can’t blame him. His response – “I’ll just build something.”

Yeah, I’ll keep you posted on that one!

Sure, we talk about Carbon Offsets and alternative energy but at the base of the green movement are three main tenets:

• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycle

This has gotten me thinking about my own household and how much trash we generate. How much of these basic philosophies have we really adopted? We’ve always returned our deposit bottles and cans but honestly, we fell off on recycling and I started to feel super irresponsible.

I think a lot of people probably ditch the recycling idea because they’re lazy, trash is annoying to deal with and there are a lot of recycling “rules” that make it more difficult and more annoying than it has to be. To that end, my family and I decided to just go for broke in regards to our trash.

In fact, I think a lot of people lose sight of the simplicity of reduce, reuse and recycle. So here’s some of what my family is doing – and it’s pretty painless, I swear!

1. The Recyclables

The first thing we did was bring a couple of plastic waste bins we’ve had laying around into the kitchen. We then determined that one would hold metal – meaning aluminum cans and steel cans. The second we determined would be plastics (bags, milk bottles and other properly labeled recyclable plastics) and the third would be paper – primarily newspaper, magazines, glossy inserts and used art paper from the short one).

I’ll be honest – my first instinct was to go out a buy a trashcan with multiple bins for recycling which would have in turn created more waste as we wouldn’t have needed all the bins we already had. Clearly this would have been wasteful and somewhat environmentally counterproductive. So we decided to keep the smaller bins and just be diligent about emptying them frequently enough.

The other issue that arose with our new fabulous system was our dogs. They are used to having no access to any trash because we have used a can with a lid forever. Dogs love trash anyway, but ours are truly trash enthusiasts – trash connoisseurs you might say – especially of deliciously shred-able paper goods. So we did have to quickly re-tool the paper can and its height.

Still, once this system was in place, the separating and recycling of most of our easy to process items was complete.

2. Reusing

You may have noticed that we don’t have a “glass” bin in the recycling? That is because we’ve been washing, boiling, de-labeling and reusing the glass jars. I love whole foods and I buy them in bulk and they usually come in baggies to reduce packaging costs and environmental impact. I like to keep my black beans, wheat germ and quinoa organized and accessible though, so we started using the jars from used salsa, pickles – you name it – to store alternate dry foods, preserves and other creations. It’s been working great although I think a label maker might be in my future!

Eventually, we may very well need a bin for the glass but I know the jars and lids may come in handy down in the garage and work room as well. You’ve seen the innovative way to use jars in your workshop, right? You screw the lids to a board, ceiling or shelf mount the board with the lids facing down and you can screw the jars into the lids. You can see what you have, keep them off shelves and re-use glass jars like nobody’s business!

3. Reducing

This is certainly the hardest of the three to actually implement! My heart and head are in the right place but it is hard to reduce consumption and consumerism in general. What I’ve tried to do is channel my shopping glee into the most efficient and multi use items possible and I’ve changed our care of our existing things so they last longer.

On the clothing and apparel front, there are no more pairs of shoes that can only work with one outfit. There is no impossibly cute jacket that doesn’t work with anything else in my closet. I wash most things on gentle and I’m learning to patch and mend so my husband’s and daughter’s clothes last longer. We buy higher quality, versatile shoes that can be polished and repaired for years to come.

In the kitchen, every fresh herb is either used within days or processed to be frozen for use when we need it. Fruit is likewise flash frozen and thawed when needed. No food is left to mold or be thrown away from carelessness.

Around the house, I rearrange, re-use and recover furniture. We’re more apt to buy from the Salvation Army and find a couch with “good bones” or a table that simply needs a new veneer than to head to the furniture store and spend four times as much money on something “new.”

We walk instead of driving when we can and we have only one car.

Primarily, at this stage of the game, I have sought to truly reduce waste and we’re doing far better than we were by just being aware.

Some of my favorite articles and blog posts in the eco-world this week:

Making new crayons out of old ones — Incredibly cool! Danny Seo has a great way to reuse old broken crayons. A great craft project or a gift for children.

Maternity clothes that are friendly AND economical! — Eco-friendly maternity clothes are still rare, but this blog post gives ideas on how to use your existing wardrobe throughout your pregnancy.

The Hayle Estuary Ecolodge — A place you can feel good vacationing at! The Hayle Estuary Ecolodge will include a restaurant, cafe, and a visitors center for bird watchers and eco-tourists! Check the link out for pix and more info.

The Greenest Laptops of 2008 — ENN has a list of 4 green laptops, with laptops from HP, Levono, Toshiba, and Apple. Looking to buy a new laptop? Now you can buy a “GREEN” one!

Mattress Recycling — A well-researched article on the state of mattress recycling. We have a long way to go. Mattresses can take up a lot of space in a landfill!

Agave as Biofuel? — Researchers are investigating producing ethanol out of agave. (Agave is what tequila is made from!)

If you’re like me, you probably have lots of old cell phones and computers lying around. Electronics become antiquated so quickly, and throwing them out in the regular garbage is a tremendous strain on the environment. Thanks to one of my favorite green bloggers, Danny Seo, I’ve learned how to dispose of such waste: Earth911.org!

It’s a really cool site…all you have to do is put in your zip code and viola! It lists places for you to get rid of items such as cell phones, antifreeze, batteries, tires, and more. I’ve learned that within a few miles of my home, I can get rid of my old cell phone at a recycling center, a cell phone bank at a Radio Shack, and a charity organization!

It’s great to know there is a safe way to throw out hazardous materials.