Recycling from A-Z

Each home generates more than 1 ton of trash every year. Yes, 1 ton. While recycling rates are improving in the US, the EPA estimates that an additional 75% of our waste could be recycled or composted, drastically reducing our impact on the environment. In 10 steps, EVO shows you how to dispose of everything from old computers to last year's shoes.

Step 1: Create a Home Recycling Center

EVO recommends a three-bin setup for starters as most municipalities require about 3 recycling categories for your paper, plastic, metal, glass, and compostables. You've got lots of fashionable, user-friendly bins to choose from these days--read EVO's recycling bin picks for immediate inspiration.

Step 2: Get Informed

Unfortunately, Recycling is not regulated at either the federal of the state level. This means each city has different recycling guidelines. First read Recycle Now's guide to plastics to learn about different types of plastic and which ones to avoid, then check with you local municipality on the specific types of waste that are recycled in your area. Most will recycle Type 1 and 2 and often Type 5 Plastics. Many will require you to separate out papers, plastics and other materials. Others will allow you to co-mingle materials. To obtain detailed recycling info where you live, call 1-800-CLEANUP.

Step 3: Rinse and Separate

One of the main challenges that recycling centers face is "slag". This is the non-recyclable and sometimes hazardous stuff that comes as a result of improper separation of recyclables or just plain ol' dirty materials. Help your local recycling center to do a better job by rinsing off food deposits and checking to make sure you're not sending the wrong types of plastics to get recycled. According to Be Safe Recycling 1 PVC bottle can contaminate a recycling load of 100,000 PET (Type 1) bottles.

In terms of paper, you have a little more lee way and may or may be required to separate. Higher grades of paper are transformed into post-consumer paper, grocery bags, and newspaper. Lower grades (like printed leaflets) are turned into composite paper like cardboard or egg cartons. The only type of paper that can't be easily recycled is wax-coated paper.

Step 4: Get a Composter

You can divert 25% of your total waste by composting. We promise the process is easier than you think, and it creates the best fertilizer around. Most people believe that composting is a somewhat stinky procedure, but it doesn't have to be! Watch 3 videos on Composting Secrets and unearth an effortless and odorless way to recycle the green stuff.

Step 5: Reduce!

Now that you're all set up to recycle, the key is to use them as little as possible. In other words, start reducing your waste stream. This is after all, the first principle of the 3 R's. Start by putting an end to your junk mail. Did you know that over 62 billion pieces of junk mail are sent out each year, requiring 100 million trees and the energy equivalent of about 3 million cars? So start by blocking your junk mail with 41 Pounds.

And plastic? According to the Container Recycling Institute Americans will go through about 130 billion (yes, billion) plastic bottles in 2007 alone. So get yourself a Klean Kanteen and keep hydrated without all those plastic bottles!

Step 6: Reuse!

Grandma's funky green couch may not be your thing, but don't toss ship it to the dump! Old furniture takes up a lot of room in landfills and could happily grace the home of your neighboring hipster. As the old adage goes, "One person's trash is another person's treasure". So post your reusable or reparable goods at Craigslist.

Step 7: Ease out of E-waste

Old cell phones, computers, printers and toner represent a significant impact on the environment. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, American consumers generated nearly 2 million tons of electronic waste in 2005, and the tech research firm Gartner Inc. estimates that 133,000 PCs are discarded by U.S. homes and businesses each day. Sadly, only 10-15% of electronics are currently recycled. The rest end up in municipal landfills, where environmentalists worry toxic chemicals can leak out. Green Citizen Recycling tells us that e-waste is the largest contributor of carcinogenic toxins in the US. The lead in computer and TV screens (about 4-8 pounds) represents 40% of all the lead in US landfills.

What to do? Both Dell and HP now offer "take-back" recycling programs and now Best Buy features recycling e-waste kiosks at all of their stores. Last year alone, they collected 45 tons of e-waste! They'll even haul away your large electronic stuff, like TV's and appliances.

Step 8: Recycle Bulbs & Batteries

Don't toss dead batteries or light bulbs in the trash. They're loaded with heavy metals like lead, cadmium and copper that can be very damaging to the environment if left to decompose, but are considered very valuable if reclaimed. Recycling bulbs and batteries keeps mercury out of the ground water or from being incinerated and dispersing into the air. Read more at Lamp Recycle and use Earth 911's great tool to find a recycling station that accepts CFL light bulbs. Call 1-800-8BATTERY to find out where to recycle batteries in your area.

Step 9: Give Shoes a Chance

If those charming old shoes are not nice enough to give away to a local thrift store or to send to Shoes for Orphan Souls, then join Nike's Reuse-a-Shoe program. They will recycle your treads into athletic courts and running tracks across the nation.

Step 10: Get Creative

Turn your trash into something useful..or just beautiful. Shred your junk mail in a paper shredder - it makes great packaging material so you won't need to buy non-recyclable materials like Styrofoam peanuts and bubble wrap. Or for the artistically inclined, learn to make origami using old scraps of paper by watching the video. Or become a brilliant sculptor like artist Stuart Haygarth who makes trash worth its weight in gold.