Recycling/Going Green

[Rincewiend]

Seperating glass and paper is something i grew up with, most people here in the Netherlands do it as well...
Seperating plastics has been phased in here in the last couple of years and seems to be catching on...
I try to reuse plastic shopping bags as much as i can, though i try to remember to take my canvas/cloth shopping bag when i go shopping...
When my parents had a home with a garden they composted a lot of stuff...
My parents, my brother and me all have CFL/FL lights in our houses...
Low-power appliances when possible, but nowadays that seems to be the norm when buying new appliances...
I don't have a car and i try to do as much as i can by bike or bus/train, never bothered with getting my license and now it seems it's too much of a hassle to own a car...

 

[Starbreaker]

I've started recycling plastics, aluminum, and cardboard.

 

[Miss Chicken]

We only have one recycling bin. One puts glass, plastics and paper in it all together.

I compost, but this year my compost bin has become an ants' hive. However this has stopped the ants coming inside the house. The two years before that the ants invaded the house time and time again.

I don't own a car. I am 53 years old and have never been one bit interested in learning to drive. If I can't get there by a bus it isn't worth going to.

I use CFL lights.

I don't have a dryer. I have two lines strung up under the carport to use if it is raining.

I buy many things (clothes etc) from the op shop (charity shop).

I use green bags.

 

[scotpens]

In two weeks, my kitchen bin gets only about 1/4 full. And it's a fraction of the size of the household waste bin.

In contrast, my neighbours' household waste bins are usually full to the extent that the lids don't shut properly. I don't know how people manage to create so much waste!

Maybe they purchase a lot of packaged goods and takeout food? Sometimes I’m amazed at the amount of trash I produce, and I’m single and live alone. I also practically keep several local fast-food outlets in business.

We only have one recycling bin. One puts glass, plastics and paper in it all together.

Same here in Los Angeles. I put all recyclables into the blue bin like I’m supposed to. I find the bluish light from CFLs rather cold and uninviting, so I use them in the bathroom and kitchen but not the bed/living room.

As for having a car, it’s a necessity in this city. Besides, I like driving. My car is an extension of my peni — uh, my personality.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Can't be bothered. Have seen all the photos of acres of rotting paper because there is more paper put in recycle bins than can be recycled. Cannot stand listening to friends talk on and on and on about it.. they need some nice recyclable gold paper crowns.

 

[TrekkieMonster]

I have been into recycling since I was quite young which, for someone my age, is a bit unusual. But, I grew up in Oregon (the first state in the US to pass a "bottle bill"). We learned recycling in school, and I was one of those annoying kids who brought it home and tried to make our family recycle, which was tough at first but became easier when our town added a recycling transfer facility at our town landfill.

Flash forward, I'm lucky to live in a city (Boston) with a comprehensive recycling program. Just last year we went "single stream", which means we each have an enormous wheeled blue recycle bin and we no longer have to separate anything. I was in heaven.

I live in a small condo complex and I've gotten ALL my neighbors to recycle (when, at first, most of them said they couldn't be bothered.) Now, on trash day, instead of 3 overflowing trash cans and 1 recycle bin, you will usually see at our curb 4 big blue bins filled to over flowing with recyclable materials and 1 trash can with 1 bag of garbage from each household. I even bring home my recycling from work (they only recycle paper.)

This summer, I may try composting. The only problem is that we have very limited outdoors pace. But, we do put in a nice "container garden" each year, so we could certainly use the material.

And we did make a conscious effort to live in an area where at least one of us can take public transportation to and from work. When we decided it was time to buy and we wanted to move out of the center of the city, we made sure we stayed on the subway lines, even though we knew it meant we'd be paying a premium for our house. Unfortunately, my job requires me to drive both for the commute and for business travel. But, at least one of us can commute via subway, and we use it frequently to get into the city, to the airport, etc.

We also paid more for new construction when we bought, so that we could get high energy efficiency and low energy usage. And I'm about half way through the process of converting all our lights to CF (as the old ones burn out.) Our friends and family can't believe how low our electric and gas bills are each month. Okay, I guess that's enough rambling out of me.

 

[Jadzia]

Can't be bothered. Have seen all the photos of acres of rotting paper because there is more paper put in recycle bins than can be recycled.

If you have a stove, you could burn it. Fire will keep you warm.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I do have a fireplace, but paper is smokey. I rarely use it because I end up blocking it off a lot to keep possums from coming down it and running around the house, which happens rather frequently if not blocked off. I do dump plenty of recyclables into the (huge) recycle bin, but that's because it's roomy not because I'm wanting to recycle them.

My friend lectures me about my total lack of interest in green issues but I just point to her and say, "You, two cars. Me, no car. I win."

 

[judge alba]

use mostly low energy bulbs round the house, recycle paper, plastics and cans and cycle 6 miles to work everday. dont do any composting or gardening for that matter.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

The original light bulbs are now banned here. I hate those low energy things, the light is cold and flat. Luckily for me I came across a thrift store selling about 60 of the old style bulbs for a pittance, someone had donated them. They will last me a long time.

 

[Jadzia]

The original light bulbs are now banned here. I hate those low energy things, the light is cold and flat. Luckily for me I came across a thrift store selling about 60 of the old style bulbs for a pittance, someone had donated them. They will last me a long time.

I read about someone who realised he could sell original light bulbs as long as he didn't sell them as light bulbs. He marketed them as small heaters. It was perfectly legal.

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

I try to recycle as much as can. I know I can do more, as I have a pile of green bags that never get used. Plus I catch a lot of public transport also.

 

[AdAstra]

The original light bulbs are now banned here. I hate those low energy things, the light is cold and flat. Luckily for me I came across a thrift store selling about 60 of the old style bulbs for a pittance, someone had donated them. They will last me a long time.

My low-energy CFLs give nice and yellow-ish light, just like "normal" lightbulbs. Maybe I should ship you some nice modern European CFLs

 

[Miss Chicken]

The original light bulbs are now banned here. I hate those low energy things, the light is cold and flat. Luckily for me I came across a thrift store selling about 60 of the old style bulbs for a pittance, someone had donated them. They will last me a long time.

I use CFL in my laundry, hallway, toilet, bathroom and for the two outside lights.

In my lounge room and my kitchen I have the long fluorescent lights.

In the bedrooms, and in my reading lamp, we use halogen light bulbs.

There are not quite as energy efficient as fluorescent light bulbs but they are more efficent than the old incandescent bulbs and the light given out is very similar to the old bulbs. Halogen bulbs are legal in Australia.

 

[Rincewiend]

The original light bulbs are now banned here. I hate those low energy things, the light is cold and flat. Luckily for me I came across a thrift store selling about 60 of the old style bulbs for a pittance, someone had donated them. They will last me a long time.

My low-energy CFLs give nice and yellow-ish light, just like "normal" lightbulbs. Maybe I should ship you some nice modern European CFLs

Same here...
The ones from Ikea are good...

 

[AdAstra]

And Philips. And even the cheapo Carrefour ones.

 

[TerokNor]

Lets see...
we have 5 different rubbish bins for recycling.... one for paper, one for glass, one for plastic, one for biological waste and one for the rest.
We have some energy saving bulbs. When away I always shut down all the electricity, from the TV I have it most of the time shut down anyway (dont watch much TV)...means I never have it on stand by, as this eats energy as well.
I only have the water running when truly needing it..like getting the toothbrush wet, water off, brushing teeth, water on again for cleaning the mouth. However I could do better with saving water...because I LOVE to bath... even when I now that showering wastes less water. Try to moderate myself, but guess could bath less...though in the summer its better again, then I shower more, than bathing, but when its cold outside and rainy...
Oh and I don´t have a car and never will. Also I rarely use motor-vehicles anyway. I like it best to walk on my own feet, sometimes I use the bike...and first after that comes puplic transportation (of course it always depends a bit where you live...but in the last 6-7 years that worked fine).
I have a washing-mashine that does not need that much water and I wash most of the time low temperature and fast programs, like 30 degree/ 30 minutes. If I truly have dirty clothes to wash I use other programs, but most of the time that fast one is enough... also I usually don´t wash more than once a week or less....always wait till I have collected a lot things to wash at once and never wash only quarter or half a washing mashine full..I throw usually all together (white, colours...unless something is new and would colour everything). And I never iron, saves energy too and my nerves...hate ironing.

TerokNor

 

[Miss Chicken]

I forgot to mention in my previous post that I only wash clothes in cold water.

 

[Jadzia]

I forgot to mention in my previous post that I only wash clothes in cold water.

A man went to visit his 90 year old grandfather and while eating the breakfast of eggs and bacon prepared for him, he noticed a film-like substance on his plate. So he says, "Grandfather, are these plates clean?" His grandfather replies, "Those plates are as clean as cold water can get them, so go on and finish your meal." That afternoon, while eating the hamburgers his grandfather made for lunch, he noticed many little black specks around the edge of his plate so again he asked, "Grandfather are you sure these plates are clean?" Without looking up from his burger, the grandfather says, "I told you those dishes are as clean as cold water can get them, now don't ask me about it anymore." Well, later that day, they were on their way out to get dinner. As he was leaving the house, grandfather's dog who was lying on the floor started to growl and would not let him pass. "Grandfather, your dog won't let me out." Without diverting his attention from the football game he was watching, his grandfather shouted, "Coldwater, get your ass out of the way!"

 

[scotpens]

. . .I have a washing-machine that does not need that much water and I wash most of the time low temperature and fast programs, like 30 degree/ 30 minutes. If I truly have dirty clothes to wash I use other programs, but most of the time that fast one is enough...

Washing machines nowadays have “programs”? The ones in my building’s laundry room just have a three-way temperature setting and a start button.