By Matthew and Jaren Beavers
Four years ago, Matthew and Jaren Beavers of Mountain Home challenged themselves to compare their trash with their recyclables for 24 hours. Today, they own a recycling business and their trash consists of two small bags a month. That’s it. Here’s what they can recycle in just one day. Can you?
Kermit the Frog once famously said, “It’s not easy being green.” We respectfully have to disagree with him. Recycling is one of the easiest and most proactive ways you can have a positive impact on the environment. It just makes sense. Think about an empty, used plastic bottle. You have two options: 1) reuse it or recycle it; 2) throw it in a landfill where it contributes to contamination. Which option is better?
If you do not currently recycle at your house, we encourage you to take the 24-hour challenge. First, make room under your sink for two empty containers. Mark one “trash” and the other “recyclables.” For one routine day, collect all of your recyclable items in the recycle bin. You’ll have to pay attention at first since you’re in the habit of pitching stuff in the trash can. We assure you, you will be amazed by the end of the day at how much of your trash can actually be recycled!
Once you get in the habit of recycling, you might also notice a desire to reduce by taking a reusable water bottle instead of buying bottled water, purchasing items from the bulk room to reduce packaging waste, and composting your food scraps, coffee grounds, and paper napkins.
We haven’t always been avid recyclers. We started about four years ago when we took the 24-hour challenge and discovered that 60-70% of our trash could actually be recycled. So three years ago, we took our chances and started offering a curbside recycling pickup service in the Twin Lakes Area to help our friends and family get started. Thus was born Start 2 Start Recycling.
What we recycle in a typical day:
MORNING
• Tea bag wrapper I patio fire pit container
• Tea bag, coffee grounds, peelings, cores, and trimmings from fruits I garden compost
• Paperboard cereal box and inner plastic bag
• Yogurt containers, rinsed
• Coconut milk tin, rinsed
• Empty peanut butter jar, soaped and rinsed
• Plastic milk jugs
• Veggie peelings, stems, stalks, and other discards I freezer bag for making future veggie broths, and then composted
• Napkins and paper towels I compost
WORK
• Take reusable water bottle
• Take homemade protein bar in reusable container
• Take reusable shopping bags and containers for bulk pantry items I we keep bags of all sizes in our trunk, including a couple of insulated bags for the colder items
• Buy green products that are made using wind or solar power, packaged in recycled paper board, or paper products (like napkins and toilet paper) made from post-consumer recycled materials
• On Matthew’s recycling route, he picks up: plastics, tin, aluminum, and cardboard and takes to Baxter Recycling. Stops by Baxter Road and Bridge to dump off batteries, old paint cans, CFL (swirly) bulbs or hazardous materials. He takes clothes hangers that aren’t broken to the thrift stores; plastic bags and wrappings to Walmart; and what little trash his customers produce to the transfer station.
LUNCH
• Napkin and empty chip bag I home to compost
• Paper or plastic sack, plastic drink cup and/or paperboard box I all recyclable!
• Avoid styrofoam I it confuses people because it has the chasing arrows (recycle symbol) on it, however the centers where this stuff is accepted are far and few between. Our mantra is, “Say no to foam!”
AFTERNOON
• Laundry soap container
• Envelopes from opened mail
• Junk mail I call catalog and other direct mail companies and request to be taken off their mailing lists (this literally takes just two minutes!)
NIGHT
• Cans from fruits, veggies, soups, beans or other pantry staples
• Plastic and glass condiment and dairy containers
• Food scraps I composted
• On the rare occasion we go out, we always take our own reusable to-go box
• Ziplocks, air-filled packaging bags, wrappings from dry cleaning, potato and apple sacks, packaging from toilet paper and paper towels/napkins, bread bags, newspaper bags, occasional Walmart sack I all recyclable!
• Shampoo, hand soap, and dish soap containers
• Glass or plastic medicine bottles and/or beauty products
• Toilet and paper towel rolls I recyclable!
About 70% of our trash is recycled or composted. We don’t eat meat, so all of our food scraps are composted. Once you get started, it’s almost as if you can’t stop! The trick is to make it convenient, then it will become habit, and you’ll actually be having fun! AND you’ll feel great knowing you’re helping to do your part!
For more info, visit Start 2 Start Recyling at start2startrecycling.com. M! February/March 2014
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