If you drive down a street or two the morning of or evening before garbage collection day where each home has two bins – one for trash and the other for Recycle materials – a strange but not surprising phenomenon is on full display. Today, for the most part, the recycling bin is often overflowing while the garbage sits snugly on top, with nothing peeking out from under the lid.
Which means “we get it!”, and good for us all for doing our part to control pollution, conserve natural resources, and leave more behind for future generations.
But does that mean the battle has been won and the war is now over, and we forget we ever heard the words “reduce, re-use, recycle”? Of course not. There’s still plenty more to do.
That’s why we decided to dedicate this blog to 5 items you may not even realize CAN be recycled. Education, after all, leads to practice, practice to repetition, and repetition to habit.
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Athletic Shoes.
What’s the first thing you think of when it’s time to part with a once favorite
pair of soccer cleats or running shoes? “Get those stinking things out of my house!”, right? Well, instead of also stinking about landfills, how about locating a Nike Reuse-A-Shoe recycling bin. Nike collects the used footwear, grinds it up, and uses it to make everything from shoe soles to zippers.
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Bike Tools and Gear.
There’s another organization called Bikes Not Bombs that takes bicycle parts, tools, and other gear, including helmets and bags, and then ships them to economic development projects in third world nations. Some bikes even remain in the US and are donated to group youth programs where teens learn bicycle safety and mechanical skills.
- Bras.Think about it – isn’t that one clothing item that frequently doesn’t make its way to homeless shelters or Salvation Army bins. Well, now you have another option through the Bosom Buddy Program. It was started by a textile recycling company in Arizona that spruces up used bras and donates them to women’s shelters and similar organizations.
- Crayons.
Who’d-a-thunk it, right? But thanks to the National Crayon Recycle Program, old crayons are transformed into new ones, thereby taking a big load off our already over-loaded landfills.
At Norhio Plumbing, we take our role as green plumbers very seriously and, as such, offer a number of products and services designed to reduce your water consumption without any loss of comfort or convenience. To learn more about how we can help makes yours a more eco-friendly house, contact us today.
