Recycling things at home serves two purposes. One, it helps the environment to reuse products instead of produce more. Two, it becomes a means of decluttering—ways to reduce waste at home.
First of all, many environmentalists have begun raising red alerts due to the environmental state of the Earth. Issues like Global Warming and raising water levels have turned into a cause for concern.
By making use of the three Rs—reduce, reuse, and recycle—people can take part in slowing down the Earth’s deterioration. A great place to start is by looking for ways to reduce waste at home.
Second, not only is it a bad look, it can be annoying and frustrating having to navigate around a house and lot with a lot of clutter.
So whether you are eco-friendly or space-conscious, you can make practical and creative use of the things lying around your house that are practically useless. This way, you will have a different view on the household items you use every day. Moreover, you might learn a thing or two about certain things that turn out to be recyclable all this time.
In one’s big to help the Earth and/or make one’s home more attractive, here are a list of items to recycle; ways to reduce waste.
1. Electronics
In this day and age of information and technology, there is a huge chance that each and every person has had multiple gadgets and probably has old electronics sitting around the house.
If it still has some functionality to it or you perceive that it still has value, than you should probably sell it to someone looking for a second hand device.
However, if you think it does not work at all, your first instinct must not be to throw it. Electronics are hard to recycle in the sense that you can just keep all your old gadgets together then throw them.
What you must do is look for the nearest materials recovery facility or any recycling facility and bring your old gadgets there. They will give you some cash in exchange for the gadget and it is up to them how they will make use of each and every part to make a new gadget.
From an old gadget, to harvesting different parts, to a potential new gadget is the result of recycling this. You even get some cash for it too.
2. Ink Cartridges
Ink Cartridges are hard to recycle and must be taken to recycling facilities because it must be handled by an expert. These things are full of toxic materials and mixing them up with your other trash can be detrimental to the environment.
Instead of throwing, it is best to either bring them to a recycling facility or return them to your local office supplies store. For the latter, they will bring back those cartridges to their own recycling facilities. They might even reward you with a discount on your next printer cartridge purchase for doing this.
These small rewards are incentivize one to look for ways to reduce waste.
3. Holiday Decorations
Certain times of the year call for seasonal decorations where some households tend to go all-out in decorating the best looking house and lot.
Unfortunately, when the candy has been given out and devoured by the kids or when Santa Claus leaves town after giving all the gifts, the least exciting part about the holidays is cleaning up. While cleaning up, you might notice that your décor has depreciated or some are even broken.
But, on the bright side, these are all recyclable. Anyone whose willing and able to reuse and recycle your old decorations can alter it to turn it into something else or a make it look like a new decoration.
4. Books
Used books can be the perfect design for a library or home office. It is nice to have a bookshelf where you can show off you book collection and how well-read you are. But, if this is not your type of thing, it can be hard to recycle or even worse throw away.
Papers, envelops, magazines, newspapers, etc., all go to your typical paper recycling. However, books do not belong here and are handled differently.
So, if your book is in good condition, it is best to sell or donate it. Books with popular authors or powerful stories can be a hot commodity within the second hand book market. If you are going to donate, any bookstore, library, or charity would be willing accept your books.
On the other hand, if your book has become a lost cause, it is best to consult with a professional on how to handle a book in terms of recycling because the binding of the book is unrecyclable. It is always ideal to consult with a professional on what ways to reduce waste at home.
5. Aluminum Foil
Aluminum Foil is probably the most common material for leftovers and food. Sadly, most people use this once before throwing it away. But, aluminum foil has many alternative uses instead of piling up in the trash because it is harmful to the environment.
One, it can be a reflector by placing foil behind plants in the shade to reflect light on them. Two, by folding aluminum foil until it is thick, you can cut them with scissors or slice them with a knife to sharpen them. Lastly, you can include this in your laundry by crumpling the aluminum foil into a ball then including it while your clothes dry in the dryer. This will help remove static cling and wrinkles.
If you plan to reuse the aluminum like the ways mentioned above, make sure all food debris has been removed from the foil.
6. Shoes
When shoes run out of milage, they either stay in your shoe shelf or are thrown away.
Just like books, instead of throwing them away, if the condition is still satisfactory, it is best to donate them to someone willing to reuse them. But, if they no longer can be worn, they should be recycled.
Depending on the brand of your kicks, ask the respective company about their recycling program regarding old shoes. Perhaps, you can return it to them and they can transform that shoe into something new and fresh.
7. Clothes
In the spectrum of social status, one side contains people with too many clothes, leaving some abandoned and unworn. On the other side, there are people who have to wear the same thing.
While some people take their clothes for granted, it is best to desensitize to the fact that some people are not as well off. In addition to this, clothes thrown away contribute to greenhouse gases, hence the further deterioration of the Earth.
Therefore, for old clothing, sell them at garage sales at very low prices to earn a small profit while helping people shop for new clothes. If this is unavailable to you, bring them recycling facilities or even clothing stores and they can help determine which ones can be reused and which ones that need to be recycled.
A Better Home for a Better Future
By reusing and recycling the common items found in one’s house and lot, one not only improves the space in one’s home, one also contributes to a greener Earth.
There is no such thing to an instant fix to a complicated matter but doing small things like looking for ways to reduce waste at home still count and contribute to the ongoing fight against climate change.
Written by Cholo Hermoso
