Top 10 Recycling Tips

1. First things first, a little R & R & R
   The aphorism is so tired it almost might seem like “reduce, reuse, recycle” should go without saying. But in fact, most of us have only really heard the last third of the phrase, and they’re ranked in order of importance. Reducing the amount that we consume, and shifting our consumption to well-designed products and services, is the first step. Finding constructive uses for “waste” materials is next. And tossing it in the blue bin is last. (The garbage can is not on the list, for good reason.) Through a balance of these three principals you can easily see your landfill-destined waste dwindle fast. A good example of recycling is setting your empty water bottles in the bin on the curb. But by using a water filter and reusable container you can reduce or completely eliminate your need for disposable plastic bottles.
   
   
2. Know what you can and can't recycle
   Read up on the recycling rules for your area and make sure you don't send anything in that can't be processed. Each city has its own specifics, so try to follow those guidelines as best you can.
   
   
3. Buy recycled
   The essence of recycling is the cyclical movement of materials through the system, eliminating waste and the need to extract more virgin materials. Supporting recycling means feeding this loop by not only recycling, but also supporting recycled products. We can now find high recycled content in everything from printer paper to office chairs.
   
   
4. Encourage an artist
   If you know someone interested in making art from recycled materials, offer to provide supplies. Many school children need items like paper towel tubes for art projects. Older artists use everything from rubber bands to oven doors. If you know someone who teaches art classes, suggest that an emphasis be put on making art from trash. While you're at it, remind them to use recycled paper and biodegradable, earth-friendly glues, paints, and pencils whenever possible. See below for inspiration and groups that connect artists and students with useful “trash.”
   
   
5. Recycle your water
   If you're a homeowner, consider rearranging your plumbing so that rainwater or wastewater from your shower and tub is used to flush your toilet. If you have a garden, water it with leftover bathwater or dishwashing water (as long as you use a biodegradable soap). For more on water recycling see How to Go Green: Water.
   
   
6. Recycle your greenery
   William McDonough and Michael Braungart, authors of the groundbreaking Cradle to Cradle, envision so-called “waste” divided into two categories: technical nutrients and biological nutrients. Biological nutrients are those that, at the end of their useful life, can safely and readily decompose and return to the soil. Composting is one of the simplest and most effective recycling methods. Both your garden cuttings and your green kitchen waste can go into an outdoor or indoor composter (with or without entertaining a population of worms). If you don't have a garden yourself, find neighbors or a community garden that can make use of your soil. Composting food scraps will mean your regular kitchen wastebasket fills up more slowly and also won’t smell. Hotter, more active compost heaps can also consume tougher stuff like newspaper and paper napkins. After Christmas, many cities also have programs for turning your tree into mulch.
   
   
7. Recycle your robots
   Electronics recycling is becoming more common in many urban areas, battery recycling is ubiquitous (rechargeable batteries are ecologically sounder, but even they wear out after a while), and there are a number of non-profit organizations that will take computer parts and turn them into working computers for others. Companies like Ebay have also developed programs to help your electronics find new homes. Other groups will gladly recycle your cell phone or give it to a senior citizen, as even without a contract it can still make emergency calls. If you have a major appliance that doesn't work and you'd rather replace it than try to fix it, offer it to local repair shops, trade schools, or hobbyists to tinker with. Many cities now offer hazardous waste recycling days when they will take not only hazardous waste, but electronics.
   
   
8. Anticipate recycling
   In addition to buying recycled goods, keep a keen eye out for recyclable goods. Whenever you purchase something packaged, think about how you can reuse the packaging, return it to a shipping store for reuse, or try to otherwise recycle it. If you get something likely to run down or wear out over time, such as an electronic component, give preference to the model that can be easily upgraded or cannibalized for parts so that you don't have to junk the whole thing if one part breaks. Products that are impossibly fused together are often called “monstrous hybrids” and are, while often cheaper up front, frequently unfixable and unrecyclable.
   
   
9. If you don’t love something, let it go
   Lots of charities welcome your donations. Groups like Freecycle and Recycler's Exchange exist to help you get rid of useful objects that you just don't want to make use of. If you're in a Craigslist city, make use of the "free stuff" section. Give away clothes that don't fit, the boxes you used in your last house move, or scented soaps that don't appeal to your sensibilities. Make it a rule in your house that nothing useable goes in the trash until you've given the community a fair shot at it.
   
   
10. Become a waste-stream analyst
    To better understand the kind of materials that enter and leave your home, office, or school, consider conducting a waste audit. Set a span of time like a week or a month, and separate your waste categories. Weigh the different kinds of material flows that go out the door (landfill waste, organic compost, aluminum, recyclable plastic, reusable material, etc.). Design a “material recovery” program that minimizes the amount going to the landfill. This is a great exercise to do with kids but can be very convincing to corporate higher-ups, too, especially since most companies pay to have their trash hauled away and can get money for recycled paper, containers, toner cartridges, corrugated cardboard, and such.

Story by: Danielle Sylos

Concrete roads, tall buildings, and limited green space surround everyday city dwellers. Many urbanites are environmentalists who ride metro lines, bike to work, drive hybrid cars, and do their best to live a green lifestyle. Another way for urbanites to incorporate a green lifestyle into their lives is by surrounding themselves with nature. To help them accomplish a life filled with nature, there is a gardening movement happening all over the country and the world called Guerrilla Gardening, which brings gardening to urban centers in innovated ways.

Guerrilla gardening is a non-violent direct movement. It is related to land rights, land reform, and permaculture. Activists use abandoned land, which they do not own to grow plants or crops. Guerrilla gardeners believe in reconsidering land ownership in order to reclaim land from perceived neglect or misuse, and assign a new purpose to it. Some guerrilla gardeners work in secrecy at night while others work more openly. In other words, if you live somewhere where space is limited and you don’t have an area of your own to plant a garden or know others who don’t, it doesn’t matter because there is a spot somewhere that needs greenery in your community.

This idea of guerrilla gardening certainly isn’t a new phenomenon, it actually goes all the way back to 1973 on a lot in New York City. It is the brainchild of Liz Christy and other gardening activists called Green Guerrillas, all of whom transformed an abandoned lot, in Manhattan on Bowery and Houston Street, into a historical garden. Liz Christy and the Green Guerrillas saw potential in a forgotten place in their neighbor and developed an abundant garden of sixty raised plant beds that they planted with veggies, trees, and herbaceous borders. The movement immediately caught the attention of nearby neighborhoods, which all saw what could be done and the potential within their own neighborhoods. Consequently, the Green Guerrillas started teaching workshops and planting experiments for those interested in starting their very own gardens.