Dear Dr. R.V. Shrink:
My wife and I are green minded individuals and take our recycling responsibilities seriously. Our ideas part company when the recycle starts to pile up and we can't find a bin to dispose of it properly. My wife insists we carry it until we find the proper receptacle and I tell her we don't have the room for large amounts of recycle. It is an ongoing argument. Often we have recycle in the tow car, in the basement storage and even in the roof pod. Help me, please.
--Junk in the trunk in Tahoe
Dear Junk:
Recycling is good. You just need a better program. I know many national, state and local parks offer various degrees of recycling. Often it is only cans and plastic. Cardboard and glass are often not an option. Depending on your travel schedule, I would think you could find a recycling program in most communities, allowing you to jettison your load on a regular basis. If you have your land yacht anchored somewhere for a length of time and there are not facilities to unload recycle, your only option is refuge. Other than spending time compacting your stores to make more room I believe you must eventually loosen your load. Some garbologists actually take everything in one bin and sort at a facility. I think it is commendable that you want to recycle on the road but there are limits to what you can do with RV space. You will begin seeing more recycling opportunities at campground facilities because it is cost effective to break refuse down for many pick-up services. I would sit down with your wife and hash out some reasonable understanding of how much you can carry and where. If you're online, I would almost bet there's an App for finding recycle in areas you visit.
--Keep Smilin', Dr. R.V. Shrink
8 comments:
I feel for these greenies. Space is at such a premium, but it pains us to garbage something that isn't.
One way we have compromised is to stop buying products that should be recycled. No soda, bottled water, etc.
Maybe these two can reach an agreement, like "if we find recycling within __ days, we recycle. If not, we trash it." We find it a hardship to set aside floor space for a collection bin, though.
If you want the stuff recycled and dont care about the money,leave it next to a dumpster where homeless people or other recyclers will find it.Or put it in the dumpster collected together in trash bags in an urban area. There are needy folks who will be glad to have it.
We have a 'within reason' policy. I do wish more RV parks had bins for recycling. However I do understand it would be a big mess for them and something that someone would have to take care of.
Karen and I have that same problem. She wants to keep it until we find a place. For me, when it reaches a certain amount, I will [regretfully] just throw it in the dumpster. Sadly, it's not as easy to find recyclers as you might think. We spent last winter in AZ and southern CA, and although the CA types like to lecture the rest of us on pollution and being green, it was one of the hardest places to find recycling in all of our travels. And forget about cardboard and in many places, glass! We have more convenient and more comprehensive recycling in OH!
I did find an Android app by Elbatrop, and it's free. I have downloaded it but have no experience to report yet. Good luck to all in your recycling efforts as we RV the country!
Over the years I have often carried my recycle stash all the way home from long distances. In this last year I finally convinced myself that many items such as glass and paper won't find a recycle home. Other places don't recycle anything. So now, unless I can easily find a recycle bin, I swallow my pride and throw them in the garbage. My thought is if the locals don't care, I'm not going to be able to help them. It hurts to do it but one must move on.
If you can get internet, you can Google to find recycling in the area you are in. Google 'recycling drop off, county or town name.' Most sites I have been to are wide open, anyone can go in and drop off their stuff.
This is always a tough one when travelling. I try to recycle as much as possible, and sometimes that means carting it around with us until we find a recycling depot or a friend whose neighbourhood has a recycling program.
Everal blog entries that I discuss this in:
http://rvthereyet.ca/2010/04/22/happy-earth-day-reduce-reuse-recycle/
http://rvthereyet.ca/2011/01/07/composting-across-america/
http://rvthereyet.ca/2010/05/13/the-truth-about-coffee-cups-and-nothing-but-the-truth/
http://rvthereyet.ca/2010/04/25/tips-for-committing-to-change-for-a-better-planet/
http://rvthereyet.ca/2009/03/27/composting-with-worms/
Wow, a real letdown, some states don't give a dam. Washington look's to me as one. I pay as everyone a CRV at check-out. I reclaim that money as best I can. It's found money. I also, trun the lights outs, leaving a room.
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