Apartment Recycling When Your Apartment Doesn't Recycle

Apartment Recycling When Your Apartment Doesn’t Recycle

6 by Becky Striepe on February 16, 2011

hauling your own recycling

Apartment living definitely has its upsides. A smaller space means you use less energy to heat and cool, and it also means less square footage to clean. The downside to an apartment is that you don't have a lot of control over certain aspects of your home. While curbside recycling is becoming the norm, many apartment buildings still don't offer recycling pickup.

This is something I experienced in my last apartment. After a couple of years of pressure from residents, the management company finally got us bins, but before that we were pretty much on our own. For those of you still dealing with a complex that doesn't recycle, here are some tips to help you take charge of your waste.

Mooch a Little

This is something I'd do occasionally, and I'm not 100% sure that this suggestion is totally on the up and up. Do you have any friends that own a home or live somewhere that offers recycling? Maybe they'd let you add your recyclables to their bin.

If you go this route, I'd suggest being discreet and also making sure to be extra courteous. Your friends are doing you a favor, so rinse and sort your recyclables before you get to their place. You want it to be as hassle-free as possible for them.

Find a Recycling Center

If you're not comfortable mooching off of a friend with a bin, find a recycling center in your area. Ideally, you'll be able to find a place that's near other errands you're running so you don't have to travel out of the way to drop your recycling. Earth 911 is a great place to start, if you're not sure where to find a recycling center in your area.

Team Up

Once you've found a recycling center, you might get a little bit sick of having to run out there every week or two. Here's a great chance to meet some neighbors and help divert even more waste from the landfill!

When I lived at that non-recycling complex, I just put a flier up by the mailboxes asking if anyone would be interested in doing a drop off rotation. A few residents emailed, and we sorted out a schedule that worked for us. Each weekend, our group met up in the parking lot to load our recycling into one person's car, and he or she took everything to the recycling center. By teaming up, we each were making one trip a month instead of each heading out individually every week.

The other thing we did was research recycling solutions for our building and offer ideas to management. Your apartment complex's owners won't know that recycling is important to their residents unless those residents speak up! We emailed and encouraged other residents we knew to ask, as well. After a while, the building set up a recycling program!

I'm sure there are other tips and tricks for apartment dwellers looking to recycle. Do any of you guys live in buildings that don't recycle? How do you handle it?

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by AGeekMom

Tara

Sometimes you can find a nearby business that recycles that doesn’t mind you dropping off in its bins. Whole Foods Market near my house recycles and it’s somewhere I go shop anyway so it works!

Becky Striepe

Great tip!

http://www.naturalunnatural.co.uk Megan

I live in a Glasgow tenement and although we have a council recycling bin its quite restrictive what can and cannot (mainly cannot) be recycled.

So i found a local company called the Reclaimer who recycle pretty much everything! give you a bag and pick it up from the front of the flats each week for a small fee. So its worth looking for small recycling companies like this in your area.

Been using them for over a year and never have more than one full bin bag a week. Does anyone know of any tips to make the bin smell less though?!

Becky Striepe

What a great idea! I wonder if you could even team up with other tenants to split the fee.

As far as smell goes, rinsing your recyclables can help quite a bit. You might also try sprinkling some baking soda in the bottom of the bin. Once in a while, it’s a good idea to empty and clean your bin out, as well. I’d spritz with a 1:3 solution of apple cider vinegar and water, then wipe it down, rinse it well, and let it dry before loading it up again.

http://www.naturalunnatural.co.uk Megan

Yeah i am pleased i found them, i’ve seen a few independent recycling vans whizzing about so seems like there’s more of these businesses popping up which is a good sign

All my recycling is squeaky clean so no smell there. Good tip about apple cider vinegar though – i use vinegar and bicarb to clean certain things and unclog drains – apple vinegar would smell much nicer than malt i think!

But the bin, ugh! I wash it every week and air it out while burning essential oils in the kitchen area. I know the obvious answer would be to change the bag more often but seems like a waste of plastic when the bins only half full. I have googled around and people say Bicarb is the answer – so i’m going to pour half a tub in there and see what happens.
http://jaybanks.ca Jay Banks

It becomes to be more or less common to recycle everything after usage. Almost every area of homes or condos has its own recycling center here in Vancouver. Well, it is today rather necessity than some occasional fad.
Actually, try to put a lemon peel inside washed basket, it changes the odour rapidly.