How can it be more 'green' when we have to drive to our recycling place?
The only thing I can think of is if we take our recyclables when we’re going to go out anyway, but that doesn’t really work since there wouldn’t be room in our car/truck. The area isn’t really close enough to bike to, and even if it was our bins are too large to be biked to the area.
Is there anyway to be more green about this or not?
Your question has two different concepts in it. The first is "..how can it be green…to recycle". The second ask about how you can refine your existing process, system, or practice so that is it "…more green…"
The alternative to what you are doing now is to send all of your waste to the landfill. It is estimated that even most biodegradble newpaper could be read 500 years later depending upon how a particular land fill facility is set up. So, just in recycling you are being green.
That you are realizing you are not as ideally green as you could be says two great things. The first is that you are adopting the green concept as a life-style and life style direction. The second is that you are realizing the imperfections in your practices and are willing to consider refinements. These two things are the types of things that will enable us to be more comfortably, environmentally responsible. It’s always easier to do more and/or better when it is comfortable to do so.
Obviously, the way to make your process greener is to take as few driving miles to the recycling facility as possible.
One way is to reduce your actual waste. Some folks are beginning to buy in bulk and/or out of bulk staples and spice bins in an effort to reduce their packaging waste; often the actual cost is cheaper once the kitchen storage continers are purchased/re-puposed. Others are considering the amount/type of packaging one purchasing option has over another.
The other is to save on actual driving miles to the recycling facility. This may mean saving your recyclables and making fewer but larger trips, combining recycling center trips with other activities, and/or doing some type of a group or combined trip with another household(s). At one time for a while there, I found that I saved gas, trips, and over all expense by investing in containers (ok, many of them were used and/or repurposed) that I filled fully and then actually driving out of my way to a place that would recycle a larger variety of materials. Yes, it helped that I had a truck; a small one that I would stack at hish as the cab by the time I went, go at an off time, take back roads, and drive slow. But, on more than one occation, I had some stuff from at least one of the neighbor’s too.
Currently, my driving regular driving patterns take me close to a transfer station. Several time a year I’m taking yard waste, cardboard, or other items for recycle from the neighbor’s, family, friends, or friends of the same. I try to go with a full(er) truck when ever I go even though it’s only a mile to two out of the way.
Don’t worry about driving gas is now reasonably priced. Make sure you can fit it all in your car so it is better to use your Hummer.
seriously driving to your recycling place is not going to do any damage to the environment. There is a different between being more green and being a crazy environmentalist.
I think the only thing you can do is try to maximize those trips by taking as much recycling as you can. Difficult to say, though we have the same problem. You could take it when you (as an individual) were going out anyway.
Drive to the recycling center in an Electric truck or a Diesel powered truck running on Bio-Diesel.
Try living closer to the recycling centers. We have 3 recycling centers here all within 2 miles.
You could also do community recycling. Instead of 8 different people in your neighborhood driving to the recycling center everyone loads up one truck and one person drives there.
Sadly in reply to Jason, there is nothing green about biodiesel. Unless you make it from spent veg oil, the use of biodiesel has increased deforestation of south-east asia, to a unprecidented rate. Our nearest biodiesel refinery is in Germany and its production uses 300 times more water than the production of an equal amoout of fossil fuel diesel. Please don’t beleive the hype about biodiesel. While the user may well produce less harmful emissions, all along the line from growing the chemical drenched crops in Asia, Brazil ans East Africa (growing vehicle fuel in areas of food shortage ????) to it’s filthy production and massive fuel-mile carbon footprint, there is environmental destruction and human rights vialations.
Make as few trips as possible by accumulating as much as you can before you make the trip. Take caps off bottles and throw them away and crush the bottles. (Bottle caps are often not recyclable for many reasons in my area, check with your local recycling coordinator.) Crush cans too.
Take a neighbor’s recycling with you when you go. Maybe you have a neighbor who does not recycle because they can’t get to the center and you could help them to recycle more by bringing it in your car.
Do other errands while you are out, or drop off recycling on your way to someplace else.
If you have a standard transmission, use upper gears so that you use less gas. For instance, if you keep your RPM’s lower, around 2000, you will use less gas.
In Northampton MA they have a wonderful service called Pedal People. They pick up people’s recycling on bikes and tow it behind them on trailers. Then they bring the recycling to the recycling center. This would be a great business to start in other areas. Here is the website: http://www.pedalpeople.com/
Recycling is about reducing the need for raw materials – as many of our consumer goods come from non-renewable resources (petroleum/metals etc). I think in the future recycling will become mandatory as we stretch ourselves thin on resources. Don’t worry aout driving, worry about over-population.
Hi I have just put a forum page on my website and would be greatfull if you would start some conversations on recycling and waste issues on there: http://www.wasteremovalonline.co.uk/page...
thanks!