How Earth-Conscious Are You? About This Page:

[watermelonpatty]

So, I used to snicker at people that were all about the environment and were obsessive about recycling...

Lately though, I've been seeing things in a different light. I keep seeing what we're doing to the world and worry about what we're going to leave behind (how cliche right?), so I've been trying to recycle and use more earth-friendly materials like recycled paper towels, organic hairspray and cleaning products, and overall just things to make my little world healthier and get rid of some of the chemicals that are going into my body.

How does everyone feel about recycling? volunteering in community cleaning efforts? planting trees? the world in general?

[ilovedisney0_0]

I am definitely not fanatical about it, but I have been recycling for years. We have way more recycle than trash. It's a good thing, I just don't want to go too overboard.

[tndisneyfam]

We recycle, but not as much as we like. Sorry to say, but it's not very convenient in our area. We have to drive almost 15 miles to the closest recycling center. Let's just say with the price of gas, we don't go there much. If it was on a main highway or somewhere we went past all the time it would be different.

[stretch2864]

There is an incentive for us to recycle here. The city will deduct money off the monthly waste pickup bill if you recycle. So that was definitely a no-brainer!

[chezp]

I do what I can to recycle, but I have to be honest, we did more when we used to go to the recycling banks. Now they collect from our home, I only bother with what they collect. That's actually a lot less things than I used to recycle, which is ironic.

[saremca]

Our city has a recycling program so we do what we can in that respect. We try to cut down overall on packaging and environmentally unsafe cleaners, etc.

[emtpej]

We take all of trash and recycling to the same location, which is close by. What has helped enormosly has been co-mingled recyclables collection (it all goes in the same box) and hazardous waste collection, as well as metal sorting. I think more have seen the $$ savings with replacing lamps with CFLs, since they have come down in price. Since more people have become aware, it has become easier and more cost-effective than it was before when more people scoffed at 'tree-huggers'!

[coffeechef]

I recycle things that they collect. but only because we pay for trash pick up and not for recycle pick up. It makes a big differnce in how much trash I generate. In all honesty I only recycle outside of home if its available. ( meaning if I come to a trash barrel and there is no recycle barrel, guess which one its going in) I won't carry it around waiting for one.

[dejavu]

We recycle as much or more than we put in garbage bags. I bought a CFL to try and DH is worried about the mercury if it breaks (read how to dispose of a broken CFL bulb- it is a little frightening). I am a huge tree enthusiast and have planted 13 trees and 14 bushes since we moved here. I mainly use vinegar/water/baking soda for cleaning- I'm not big on chemicals. I'd say we try to think about what we are using/doing but are not as diligent as some may be.

[RobDVC]

My City collects recycling. We put out paper, plastic and aluminum.

[Belle*]

We recycle everything the town will collect which is just about everything! They take all paper, cardboard, glass and most plastics. We have CFL lightbulbs in 90% of our lamps. I use Shaklee cleaning products which are organic and non-toxic. We also have a compost bin in the yard. We even return soda cans. (DH's bachelors degree is in resource economics - the science of the planets environmental resources - so he's a bot if an eco-freak! ) Ryan is constantly reminding me, "Mommy - Reduce, Reuse, recycle!!" a la Bob The Builder.

[Caldercup]

Our township uses RecycleBank and they do comingled-pickup (no sorting!!) and they give us points for the weight of the goods we put out. We can use those points to "purchase" coupons to local stores -- nice incentive!

I recently began composting all of our kitchen scraps as well. (I read that the waste processing plants are being swamped because people are putting all their veggie scraps down through their sink disposal systems.) We got a compost bin at Sam's Club for about half what they are in the catalogs - took 10 minutes to put together! I keep a lidded container in the fridge that I plop all of the compostable scraps into. When it's full, my DS runs it out to the composter. Easy peasy!

The other big thing we did was to reduce our energy use by just being conscious about turning lights off and switching to CFLs. A programmable thermostat made a big difference in our comfort when we're home, but turns itself down when we're away or sleeping. Comparing 2006 bills to 2007 bills, we reduced our energy costs by $400 at a time when prices were climbing!

I'm trying to adjust to green cleaning products, but will miss my "spray it on and walk away" Tilex. <<sigh>>
Eileen

[Disney_Scarlett]

One of my favorite quotes is: "We do not inherit the Earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children," so I try to do what I can!

We live in the boonies and have to take our own trash and recycling, which is actually kind of good, because we recycle a lot more than what the town picks up from those who get pick-up service. We recycle plastics, cans, glass, newspapers, office paper, cardboard. They also have a section where you can leave stuff that people might actually want - clothes, toys, etc. I usually take the stuff to the PTA, but sometimes if I'm already going out that way I'll drop it off there. We take magazines to the local hospital, and they distribute them to patients.

We don't take aluminum cans to the recycle center, we take those to our scrap metal place which is just a few miles from us (while the trash/recycle place is about 10). They pay us for the cans, and they still get recycled.

We just switched to CFL bulbs in most of our lights. I keep all my chargers (cell, rechargable batteries, etc.) on a surge protector and only turn it on when I'm charging something - I read years ago that those chargers are energy-suckers - they're "on" all the time. We also have a compost pile, although not a lot of kitchen stuff makes it there - we feed that to our goats if they'll eat it (and they will ). I also try to decline the use of plastic shopping bags and just put stuff in my giant tote that I carry around anyway. We do use plastic shopping bags for kitty litterbox waste, but once our stockpile gets too much, we take them back to Wal-Mart and put them in their recycle bin.

I don't do anything that takes a lot of extra time or money, but everything helps!

[theJordans]

We try to do our bit and recycle paper, glass and plastic bottles. As for energy consumption I`m always very careful, possibly due to the very high cost. DD20 - now there is another matter She can give me a two hour lecture on the earths resources then leave every light on in the house. Don`t you just love `em

[akleos]

I'm a heavy duty recycler. HEAVY duty. We are big tree planters, and in the summers I'll go out of my way to walk to the stores and post office vs. drive. Non-toxic cleaning products all voter the house, etc. etc. There are a lot more things I would gripe about concerning our environment, but I'm afraid you'd think I'd jumped off the deep end. Needless to say, I'm a little more of a hippie than I might outwardly appear.