Gradually Going Green: Recycling
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. I remember when the town I lived in instituted Recycling. My parents begrudgingly bought the required green bin that we were to place our recyclables in and dragged it to the curb and back along with the garbage can each week. We talked about recycling in school occasionally, but I never knew why we were doing it. I was ok with participating, but I did not go out of my way to do it, or knew why one might be motivated to do so. I have little recollection of the waste situation at my University in the City of Chicago, or in Maryland.
Recycling returns to my recollection starting when I moved to New York City 6 summers ago. The city requires us inhabitants to not only recycle, but bag our recyclables in a clear storage bag, and follow the strict recycling rules at the risk of receiving a Recycling violation which carry fines of $25 (first Notice), $50 (second Notice), $100 (third Notice), and $500 (four or more Notices within a six-month period). Recycling here is serious business. Landlords have to follow lots of rules and regulations, and display decals to enable the residents to achieve the high level of recycling expectations put upon us.
At first this took some getting used to for me. The primary pain about recycling was living in a small apartment with only one garbage can, that was for garbage. I looked into a double-wide can to accommodate my garbage AND recyclables, but it was too expensive and took up too much space. I finally decided to reuse a plastic bag from my grocery shopping. I hung it on a knob in the kitchen, and filled it with my recyclables until it was full, and then transferred it to the recycling can that my landlord provided downstairs. After years of doing this, I was relieved to move into a building with a Refuse Closet in the hallway, next door to my apartment door.
In the Refuse Closet is a shoot for the garbage, shelves for the mixed paper and a receptacle for bottles and cans. Throughout the day I gather my recyclables on a corner of my kitchen counter, and then a few times a day, the kids and I venture out to deliver the goods to the closet. Since recycling has become so convenient for me, I think I recycle more…especially in the mixed paper category.
Another benefit of the Refuse Closet set up, is finding items in there from my 4 other neighbors that I pluck out to reuse. This primarily manifests through magazines and boxes. If there is a stack of magazines, I usually pick them up, page through and then return them to the closet. If I can’t find a box I need in our floor’s closet, I visit the superintendent downstairs and choose one that fits the size I need.
Recently I caught a neighbor from another floor waiting for the elevator on my floor, with a coupon in her hand that I had banished to the Refuse Closet for recycling. In addition to reusing boxes to send packages, I have also reused paper from my neighbors when making a paper mache turkey and a political sign and badges for a rally.
Going Green is gradually burrowing into my soul. Recycling was my first step to gradually going green. Once I had that down, I was ready for the next step, and everyday I make a little more progress. I’m bracing myself for the morning I wake up looking like Kermit the Frog, but unlike him, I would sing: “It’s EASY being green.”
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