Happy Friday! Hope you have great things planned for the weekend. I am going to practise visualising myself on a tropical island for the weekend. Or catch up with my friends for a virtual wine together.
I know I don't usually post on Fridays, but it seems I have a little more time on my hands lately...
I know there are people out there wondering what they are going to do with all their recycling now that some regions have cancelled the recycling thanks to COVID-19. Well, now maybe a good time to do a recycle bin audit, and see what is in there that you could avoid buying. Or how you could buy it without the packaging. That is what I'm doing, considering our recycling bin does actually get pretty full. But what to do with the recycling that IS in there?! Let me break it down for you.
PAPER: This is why you need a compost bin. You can rip up all your paper and cardboard and put it in your recycling bin! Your recycling bin should have about 75% brown material in it anyway, so this could be really beneficial for your compost bin. If you keep the ratio at about 75% brown and 25% green waste, your bin will compost effectively. Otherwise you will need a lot of craft projects to do to use it all up. Paper mache anyone?!
GLASS: I know it may be tempting when your bin is full, but whatever you do, DO NOT break up any of the glass! As soon as glass is broken it cannot be recycled. Mainly due to the fact other foreign particles get mixed in with it when it is broken. If you have jars, you could repurpose them. Maybe tidy up your pantry and use the jars for storage. Or make some jam with all the extra time you now have and you can give it aways as gifts when we all get back to the outside world!
ALUMINIUM: I'm talking cans here. You may still be able to take these to one of the aluminium recycling cages around the community. Often these cages are around the place to help fundraise for clubs and communities. If that isn't an option, consider making a game of it and have a can crushing competition. I'm thinking makeshift wooden bat... Before I get myself into trouble here, let's just say safety first. Sorry. I forgot it was hard to see a doctor at the moment. Anyway, however you chose to crush your cans, it will make more room in the recycling bin if they are crushed first. Or you could plant some nice plants in them for your home!
PLASTICS: Firstly, crush them down as small as they can go if that will make enough space in your recycling bin to last 4 weeks. If that isn't an option, try and repurpose them. Yoghurt pottles make great little pots if you are growing some seeds. Or good containers to put paint in when the kids are doing their painting projects. Ice cream containers are good for storing cookies. Or, you could make a time capsule with one! What a great idea, I really surprised myself with that one! I will call mine, "The Coronavirus Capsule" to be opened in 50 years time, when hopefully the Coronavirus is long gone. Pretty much, just get creative with repurposing your plastics. Maybe if we have any empty tomato sauce bottles I will turn them into water pistols! Then that solves two problems, recycling and keeping the kids entertained.
If nothing else, this lockdown has made me realise that I need to reduce my recyclables, big time. In my recycling bin there is: paper, cardboard, milk bottles, 1l yoghurt tubs, beer bottles, cans (mostly from beans, crushed tomatoes and coconut cream), meat trays and a couple of other random things. I could start buying dried beans instead of canned, making my own yoghurt, buying meat in my own containers, preserving my own tomatoes, making my own beer... Well maybe not the last one. Otherwise I may as well stop drinking beer anyway. I'm not fond of disgusting beer. Only nice beer.
I find it fun to solve the puzzle of how to eliminate a type of rubbish from my household, you just need to think what the alternatives are. There is always an alternative, sometimes though it may not be very practical though. It's easiest if you start with the practical options first, before tackling the less practical items.
Stay safe everyone, and remember, you can save lives if you stay home.
Maria