Do you recycle?

[NikA]

No county-provided pickup service where we are. County accepts certain recyclables at dump at no cost, so those get recycled. Any food waste goes in the compost. Pickup-sized load of recyclables goes about every month, similar load of household trash roughly every other month.

During the COVID shutdowns, they briefly stopped taking cardboard for recycling due to market saturation, so I believe they are actually recycling some of the material. I burned the uncoated cardboard in my woodstove, would do so again should that happen. Any paper with any semblance of sensitive information is burned.

 

[blume357]

I thought that by now most everyone knew what a farce "recycling" is. As for myself, anything made from copper, brass, or stainless gets set aside, cleaned and sold for scrap. I also remove and sell the motors from worn out appliances. All else either gets picked up by the city on Monday's, or if it's hazardous or too big/bulky to fit in a trash can, I haul it to the County landfill myself.

DGW

DGW,
I hope you realize how ironic your post is. You say recycling is a farce and then you explain how you are doing it with metal.

In the big picture of time most recycling is a big joke, at least from the planet's standpoint. But eventually if we don't get really serious about it the problem is going to be on us humans... we are going to run out of the basic materials to make things with and actually have to start mining the landfills. If a person could live long enough landfills would be a great investment opportunity.

 

[GasGuzzler]

Well, we live in a place where there isn't a city or whatever mandating recycling. We have to either take our trash/garbage to the local landfill, or pay for a private service.

BUT,,,,,,, I do separate out the steel & aluminum into my own bins. Then I take them to a recycling yard & sell them my scrap. I also salvage brass, copper etc to sell. Yep,, I recycle.

Same as my parents out in the country.

Any food waste goes in the compost.

We compost in our city yard. Animal byproducts of any kind are strictly forbidden because I use the soil I "make" for the garden. I shred all "normal paper" junk mail plus documents that need it and it's the brown for my green compost. Animal fat, skin, grease, etc. is bad for gardening compost so they go to the landfill. Like I mentioned elsewhere, my water bill (includes sewer and trash) runs $200-350 per month.

 

[32shooter]

I have to drop our recyclables of at one of several drop off area located throughout the county. I accumulate them in the basement for a while then load up the truck and drop them off. The aluminum cans go to the local Sportsman's club and the 4-H Shooting Sports uses the money for ammo and such.

 

[JBP]

County has been recyling for years. Started out seperating paper in one bin and cans & plastic in another. A couple of years ago they switched to everything in one bin.

 

[Sam Summey]

Like Contender, I too live in the county and pay to have my household-garbage removed. The previous garbage service provided with re-cycle pick up as part of the monthly fee. The current company wants to charge a fee almost as large as the normal pickup fee. For the last few months they get it all in one pick up. I recently destroyed up utility trailer tongue dolly. Yep they are getting it one piece at a time, wheels tires, axle weldment (cut into pieces). All the salvageable steel (3/16's) x 1 1/4" flats etc. went into my scrap/supply pile.

 

[Jagdhund]

Our Solid Waste Facility in McPherson, KS has a recycling program. They pick-up the recycling every-other week. Our recycling cart is usually contains much more than the trash cart would after two weeks. We can also haul recycling out to the site.

Also, we can haul yard wastes out there. They compost what they can and burn the rest. That way, it doesn't go into the landfill.

 

[jav]

My buddy in Oakhurst Ca recycle brass they have three ranges it called a ranger range it’s free he puts up brass all the time at all three different ranges last year he turn at 2.50 a pound 3 truck loads 36000 . I am not kidding

 

[DGW1949]

DGW,
I hope you realize how ironic your post is. You say recycling is a farce and then you explain how you are doing it with metal.

In the big picture of time most recycling is a big joke, at least from the planet's standpoint. But eventually if we don't get really serious about it the problem is going to be on us humans... we are going to run out of the basic materials to make things with and actually have to start mining the landfills. If a person could live long enough landfills would be a great investment opportunity.

At first glance, yes one could say that it seems ironic......Thing is though, a scrap yard and a landfill are two different things, as-are "recycling trash" and "salvaging/selling used metal"....Plus, when recycling household trash, a lot of the cost is passed on to the homeowner. When dealing with a scrap yard, money gets passed to the homeowner. Quite a difference there, eh?....So you see Blume, words mean things. And paying attention to what is actually being said can help prevent becoming confused.....And yes, in it's present form, government mandated trash "recycling" is a farce. Not only is the actual result ineffective, it cost more money to carry out than it saves in material. Those have been a well known facts for the past two decades. Whether or not you accept that is up to you....just sayin'.

DGW

 

[neilin]

Several years ago they had recycling here.
The waist management company had two trash barrels . One for trash and one for recycling.
You were charged extra if you wanted a recycling barrel.
Then some reporter did a story about it.
Turns out they were taking the recycling straight to the dump.
Nothing was recycled.
Supposedly they actually recycle stuff now.
I figure if they want to recycle my garbage now , then they can go through it and recycle it themselves.

I reload my ammo. So, yes, I recycle my empty brass cartridge cases, at least 20 times each.

 

[Huskerguy72]

Our Solid Waste Facility in McPherson, KS has a recycling program. They pick-up the recycling every-other week. Our recycling cart is usually contains much more than the trash cart would after two weeks. We can also haul recycling out to the site.

Also, we can haul yard wastes out there. They compost what they can and burn the rest. That way, it doesn't go into the landfill.

I am north of you about 30 miles. We have to take our household recycling to a center where they unload it and dump it in their bins/truck. We can include everything except painted cardboard, Styrofoam and products with food on them. I was under the impression it was trucked to McPherson to a recycling site or perhaps it was Hutch. Anyway, they sort it all there.

 

[LAH]

I keep anything worth selling to the local recyclers. The rest goes to the landfill.

 

[GunnyGene]

We shouldn't be in such a hurry. The Universe recycles Everything. It just takes a while.

 

[Jagdhund]

I am north of you about 30 miles. We have to take our household recycling to a center where they unload it and dump it in their bins/truck. We can include everything except painted cardboard, Styrofoam and products with food on them. I was under the impression it was trucked to McPherson to a recycling site or perhaps it was Hutch. Anyway, they sort it all there.

I know the man in charge at the McPherson Solid Waste Facility. I'm curious to find out if they do "import" recyclables.

 

[peachhead]

Years ago when our County started providing centralized "convenience centers" (dumps) they had different containers for glass, cardboard, magazines, cans, plastic etc.
Turns out it was costing the county a lot of money so it was stopped. Well all the do-gooders started bitching about it and they started back a couple years ago but only for cardboard. Then they put up a sign that said all cardboard boxes must be broken down and cannot be put into the regular trash, they must be put into the recycle bin. Well the recycle bin was full all the time so then they said you could put them in the catch-all bin. It turned out the catch-all bin is the same as trash. So nowadays everything I take to the dump goes in the catch-all bin. Makes my trash trip a lot simpler. I figure with all the tax money I pay and the fact that I still have to take out my own trash, I'm not going to worry about what bin I put it in.
I don't care anymore. I used to save cans to take to the recycle center for $$ but it's no longer worth the money to do it, and I got tired of fussing at my wife who absolutely refused to do it. I love her but geez, that woman creates more trash than any human being I've ever seen. My neighbors, who are great, came here from Colorado and they still recycle which means I have no idea what to do with my empty beer bottles when I'm at their house.
I'm convinced that recycling is generally a scam.

 

[Jakeintexas]

Sure. Moreover I’ve developed a revolutionary ‘universal recycling’ process which is destined to make millions. It involves using a catalytic hydrocarbon (trade name diesel) to initiate an exothermic reaction breaking down complex solid material into much less dense basic hydrocarbons, water, and carbon. This then re-enters the biosphere and is processed by flora as nutrients using passive energy conversion and creating useful food and fuel.

Here is a picture of my revolutionary process in action.

 

[DannyStarks]

I had a similar cleanup job and ended up booking boat removal in Seattle WA through them, and it made the whole mess way easier to deal with. They were quick, handled the heavy stuff without fuss, and even sorted out what could be donated. The online estimate form saved me a bunch of back-and-forth, and they were cool about scheduling on a weekend.

 

[Mobuck]

GA sells Tupperware--a LOT of it (I think she said last quarter of 2025 she was #47 sales in US). Tupperware ships in cardboard boxes. UPS backs up to the big shop door for unloading. She generates a LOT of cardboard. I bundle up to 500# per month of shipping boxes. Weather conditions have not been good for outdoor burning of 1/2-3/4 ton of cardboard so I have 2 full pallets stored at our north farm awaiting a safe weather window to burn.

 

[MaxMan]

Is this re cycling?
https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...B95CA0AC34BCDA49A2BCB95CA0AC34BCDA&ajaxhist=0

 

[GasGuzzler]

Made more dirt for the garden today.

 

[tazbigdog]

Yes, we've been recycling for a number of years.

 

[WAYNO]

I recycle extensively. Not always because recycling is legitimate, but because it keeps my garbage can from filling up. In our area, most of our curbside recycling goes into one large can... paper, metal, and plastic. The recycling facility separates it all, or they're supposed to.

I worked in a paper mill for nearly forty years. Here, paper products must be made from a high percentage of recycled fiber. We bought recycled paper from anybody that could supply it. Much of it came from curbside recycling, which by the time we received it, it was muchly just garbage, including plastic, diapers, synthetic paper replacements, etc. Americans largely don't know the difference between paper and plastic, including diapers. Our machines separated the garbage from the actual paper fiber, but at a huge cost in equipment, maintenance, and finally, thousands of tons of garbage we had to send to the landfill at our cost.
I hate plastic packaging.

Metal is easier to separate, and is easily recycled.

Plastic, there is little use for most of it in recycling, and it is stored extensively, hoping to find a use for it. Ultimately it is sent to a landfill or as many places in the world, it finds its way into the ocean.

 

[Jagdhund]

Our community supports recycling. Every other Wednesday, we roll a cart out to the street with recycling. Generally, we have more recycling than trash these days. I also dig lead out of back stops, melt it down and cast bullets. Then I reload my empties. So I guess I also "recycle" lead and brass.

 

[Sam Summey]

Sure I recycle, like Barbara Mandrel, before it was cool. I reload, and cast my own bullets. I never throw a large round or flat of steel or aluminum away. I have fashioned many fixtures and parts from these items.