Ready to start recycling?  Good for you!  Be sure to read our Simple Guidelines for recycling in South Euclid so you can bag and place your items correctly for pick-up.

 

How to Start?

1.  Decide Together! – Since children learn about recycling in school, it’s important to get them involved in at-home recycling efforts. 

 

2.  Start Small.  Choose just 1 or 2 items to start recycling.  The item(s) should be easy to remember and something you use a lot of (plastic milk jugs, soft-drink cans, newspapers, etc.).  If you choose more than 1 item, choose them from the same recycling category (just plastic, just paper, etc.).  Some people also choose based on storage space.  Cans can be crushed smaller; glass bottles cannot, and you DON’T want anyone handling broken glass!

 

3.  Create a special recycling container (a small, cheap wastebasket, box, etc.) and a convenient space to put it.  (You can decorate the container as a special kids’ art project.)

 

4.  Post a note or picture of your “green” item(s) near the container.  Make sure everyone in the household knows that this stuff no longer goes in the trash, AND that trash does NOT go into the recycling container!

 

5.  Keep up with the recycling flow.  It’s easier, faster (and more fun!) to rinse, crush, and place items as soon as you’re done with them, instead of waiting ‘til Garbage Night.  If yours is a “blue-bag” item, have the blue bag lining the container before the stuff goes in.  If you’re bundling newspapers, pre-cut the twine and place it so newspapers get stacked over the twine. 

 

6.  About rinsing containers…it takes about 3-5 seconds to rinse a can.  It doesn’t have to be sparkling clean, just empty.  Jars that had peanut butter, mayonnaise, etc., can be filled with water and left in the sink overnight.  YOU DON’T HAVE TO REMOVE ANY PAPER LABELS!

 

7.  Make it special.  You ARE doing something special!  So think about making “taking out the recycling” a reward, instead of a chore!  If you have a bathroom scale, kids can weigh how much they’re recycling that week.  They can even make a chart to keep track of how much “greener” their home has become!