* Food and soda cans – I recycle glass, metal and plastic containers in my community’s curbside recycling program. But I also use a Soda Stream water spritzer so I almost never buy bottled drinks anymore. I spritz water myself, then add various flavorings and sweeteners depending on what I want to drink. I’m saving a lot of money doing this, too.

* Beer and wine bottles – I generally buy glass rather than cans or plastic bottles. If I’m having a party, I buy larger bottles of wine, which use less material per serving than regular-sized bottles.

* Plastic milk jugs – I can buy milk in glass bottles at my local food coop (though they cost about $2 a gallon more than milk in plastic jugs).

* Plastic laundry jugs (when I use liquid detergent) – I generally prefer to use powdered detergent in cardboard boxes, which are better to recycle than plastic jugs. I also use concentrated detergent, so I use less per load of laundry, and extend the life of the package.

* Clothes – I recycle old socks and t-shirts into cleaning rags. I donate most of my used clothes to the local thrift shop or the neighborhood church.

 * Electronics – I recycle old monitors, computers, fax machines, chargers, phones, and pretty much anything else with a cord on it, taking most of it to Best Buy or Staples, which accept almost any reasonably-sized electronics at no charge. I even recycled my TV!

* Lightbulbs – I can now recycle my light bulbs at my city’s community waste facility. Some stores, like Ikea and Home Depot, also accept them.

* Paper (newspapers, junk mail, magazines) – All of my paper goods can be recycled curbside, but the trick is to reduce the amount of paper coming into my house in the first place. I read most newspapers and magazines online, and have used Catalog Choice to reduce the number of unwanted magazines and catalogs I receive.

* Plastic bags – I use reusable cloth bags instead of plastic bags, but if I have excess bags, I recycle them at my grocery store.

* Toys – I have given my kids’ used toys to neighborhood kids or donated them to the local thrift store.

* Furniture – I have sold unwanted furniture through my neighborhood list-serv, or simply given it away to others who can use it. EBay.com, CraigsList.com and FreeCycle.org are also great ways to unload sofas, chairs, lamps, and dining sets you no longer want or need.

 * Appliances – The easiest appliance to recycle in my neighborhood is actually my refrigerator. Here’s how I not only recycled my old refrigerator, but received $200 when I did it.

* Food – The ultimate way to recycle food is to compost it. I have a barrel composter in my backyard that helps me turn fruit and vegetable scraps, egg shells, and other non-meat or dairy waste into a rich fertilizer I can put on my garden.

REDUCE UNWANTED CATALOGS IN THE FIRST PLACE

This year, America Recycles Day has teamed up with Catalog Choice to help consumers reduce the number of unwanted catalogs they receive in the mail. It’s free and quick to sign up, and much easier than calling individual companies to try to get your name off their list.

What do you recycle? Please let us know!

RELATED POSTS

Top Ten No-Brainer Things You Should Recycle

Can You Recycle Your Car?

The post Today is America Recycles Day. What Are You Recycling? appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Choose quality over quantity. Simplify your needs overall. Then, buy clothes, jewelry, toys, tools, furniture and other commodities that are made to last. You may spend a few more dollars up front but save money in the long run when you don’t need to replace items that break or wear out quickly.

  Buy reusables. Compare a sponge to a roll of paper towels. One sponge may cost as little as $.99. A roll of paper towels runs around $1.99. But one sponge lasts as long as SEVENTEEN ROLLS of paper towels. You could save as much as $33 in paper towels before you have to throw the sponge away.  (Meanwhile, keep sponges fresh by washing in the dishwasher with the dishes; microwave on high heat for 30 seconds to kill germs.)

Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs. The CFLs may cost $2-4 more than the incandescent bulb you’re used to. But the CFL uses 66% less energy and lasts ten times as long. So over the course of the lifetime of the bulb, you can save as much as $30-$50 on electricity. Plus – think of all the time you’re saving changing light bulbs.

Forget bottled water. When you buy bottled water, you’re buying a plastic bottle, a label, the energy to transport the bottle to your store, a bottle cap, and the water inside the bottle — which, almost half the time, is actually tap water!  And even though water is very cheap when it flows out of your tap, it can cost as much as 10,000 times more when it’s served in a bottle. Buy a reusable water bottle and fill it up at your own tap. If you’re worried about water quality, use the money you save on bottled water to buy a filter for your faucet.

Save gas. This sounds like a “no brainer,” but you’d be surprised how many people waste gas – and money. Pump up your car tires to improve fuel efficiency by 3.3%. Use cruise control for as much as a 14% fuel efficiency gain. Go to Gas Buddy to find the cheapest gas in your driving range. Car pool to share driving costs with others.

Buy in bulk. You pay nearly twice the price for the same weight when you buy small, individually wrapped servings of a product rather than the bulk size. Laundry detergent, fabric softener, dishwasher detergent, shampoo, soap, conditioner, snacks, soft drinks and many other items offer a bulk or ‘economy’ size. Even buying a regular half-gallon container of juice is cheaper than buying individual juice boxes.

Plug into a power strip. 40 percent of the energy used to power consumer electronics is devoured when the devices are turned off. That’s nearly 5 percent of the total electricity American homes consume. A power strip lets you plug several appliances or lots of office equipment into one efficient outlet you can easily turn off, automatically cutting power to all devices that are plugged into it.

Take a tax credit. New fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles save gas and earn you tax credits, too. The amount, as determined by the IRS, ranges from $250 to $3150.

Use Craig’s List or Freecycle. Before you pay full price for furniture, appliances, sporting equipment or lawn and garden tools, go “shopping” online – at clearinghouses that help you acquire the goods you need at no or low cost.

Donate. Giving your used clothing and household goods to the Salvation Army, your local church, or a local charity for veterans lightens the load at the landfill and earns you a tax write-off for your charitable donations.

The post EARTH DAY COUNTDOWN: How You Can Afford to Go Green appeared first on Big Green Purse.