If you have to trudge out to the garage or down the basement stairs every time you empty a can or box of pasta or finish reading the newspaper it will probably be tempting at least occasionally to wimp out and throw stuff into the kitchen wastebasket rather than recycling it.
If you build recycling into your home, especially if you are planning to build or remodel, you will save many steps while keeping both your countertops and green conscience clear. Think about the logistics of recycling before you build or remodel. What will be the final stop for recyclables? Does your community offer curbside pickup or will you have to load the discards into your car for a trip to a transfer station. If your community does not yet offer any type of recycling will you have to store stuff for the next Boy Scout newspaper drive or until you collect enough bottles and cans to take to a redemption center. Each of these alternatives should suggest a place for your bin or box – near the car, in the same place you keep the trash can, or in a location with sufficient space to accommodate a growing pile of materials for a while.
Once that location is established, think about cutting down the time and extra steps to get stuff there. One or more “way stations” in the house can cut down on the number of trips you make to garage or basement and will keep glass, plastic, and aluminum from piling up in the house awaiting transport.
If you are lucky enough to be planning a new house or a major remodel you will find there are now some elegant recycling solutions available. Many kitchen cabinet manufacturers include recycling centers in their product lines. Some feature a single bin in which all cans, bottles, and newspapers can be tossed and then later sorted if required into the appropriate curbside pickup bins. Others feature multiple bins for sorting by type right in the kitchen. This type is handy if your community requires deposits on bottles and/or cans as it allows segregating those items that need to be returned to the store for cash. There are also some cabinet lines that offer bins that can be lined with plastic and used to collect kitchen waste for composting.
If a kitchen recycling center is out of the question consider a way station for recyclables in a convenient location such as a broom closet, laundry or mud room. This could be as simple finding a small niche for holding a kitchen wastebasket. A tall slim receptacle might slip in alongside the laundry appliances; a short, squat container could occupy the same shelf as the laundry detergent and fabric softener.
Attractive baskets in the family or living room can also facilitate recycling. Place a big one alongside the couch or chair for a fashionable catchall for newspapers and magazines after they are read; a small basket or pretty cachepot (at least 8 inches in diameter or either one will be useless) placed where the family opens mail can hold the junk mail, empty envelopes, and all those flyers that are stuffed in with utility and credit card bills. An extra small wastebasket in each bedroom or one in the hallway outside the bedrooms can catch cardboard tissue rolls, cosmetic packaging and empty shampoo bottles.
Before recycling day or more often if needed, a quick sweep through the house with a paper bag to empty the various temporary catchalls and you will have saved a dozen trips to the basement, or garage. Since most recyclables (except glass) are light, this is a perfect chore for a child that will also start him on his own path to being green.