One Simple Thing: Pick One Thing You Trash, and Try to Find a Place to Recycle It

Mr. GH and I have a lot of little fun rituals that help us keep life interesting (no, none involve chanting or sacrificing small animals).  One of them sprung from a desire to recycle something we hated constantly throwing away.

We have a big bin in the garage into which we toss waxed cardboard beverage containers – half-gallon milk cartons, soy milk cartons, and their relatives.  Rinse ’em out, put ’em in the bin.  Two or three times per year, we load up the bin in the truck and drive about 45 minutes to Boulder, where we found a recycling center that accepts them.  To reward ourselves, we’ll go for a hike or a trail run somewhere in the gorgeous trail system in Boulder, and treat ourselves to a meander through their absolutely amazing farmer’s market (or sometimes lunch at The Kitchen, our favorite locavore spot). This past weekend we did the market, and bought sugar snap peas, and ate green chile pupusas & drank iced horchata in the park on a gorgeous 75 degree day.

It’s a small thing that we COULD look at as a burden (saving milk cartons rather than pitching them) but we found a way to turn it into something we actually look forward to.

We were excited (in that geeky-greenie way) to find out that they also take metal jar lids now. So we’ll start saving those too. It’s our next One Simple Thing to not throw away.  And another impetus to go to Boulder.

Is there something in your household waste stream that you might be able to find a local recycler for?  Sometimes it’s as simple as calling or emailing an existing recycling center and asking the manager if he/she knows anywhere you can take X, Y, or Z.  If you’re in the greater Denver/Boulder area, I can tell you these guys are incredibly helpful: https://www.ecocycle.org/

And it’ll give you an excuse to treat yourself to a really great day.

Category: Entertainment, Leisure, One Simple Thing, Sustainable