Ingrid: Recycling and swapping in the Sunshine State

Here's the scoop on recycling in the sunshine state. Most places around here have curbside recycling but if you're like me and live in a condo complex, you're on your own. So I take my cardboard, newspapers, bottles, plastic (#1 and #2), junk mail (including phone books) and aluminum to the recycling center down the road every week. There is also one store--Publix--which recycles plastic bags. I try to avoid these by using cloth shopping bags but still get a few here and there. I patronize Publix for this reason. The last time I was at the recycling center I saw a huge clump of plastic bags left there by people who had used them to drop off cans and bottles. I asked the manager if they recycled the bags. He said no. I was about to load them in my car to take to Publix but my husband intervened. (We were on the way to church.) I'll get them next time. They do not take steel cans anywhere nearby. Too bad. I just read that used steel cans are being shipped to steel mills to be melted down and reformed into car bodies and framing. Another interesting fact: Over half the polyester carpets manufactured in the US is made from recycled plastic bottles.

As for toxic waste, the St. Petersburg area has well-publicized mobile collections for paint, batteries, hazardous chemicals, electronics, etc. But, like you with the electronics, I am just realizing there is more hazardous stuff out there than I realized. We just had our thermostat replaced and the repairman handed me the old one to dispose of. "Is it okay to throw this away?" I asked. "Well, it does have mercury in it," he said!!!! And if I hadn't asked him I would have thrown it in the trash just like every other customer probably does.

We also have a Swap Shop in St. Petersburg. You can take paint, cleaners, gardening products and other household products and leave them for other people to use FREE.

More good news. I just returned from a 10 day biking trip in the Outer Banks. All our dinners were in restaurants but most of our lunches were picnics put together by our bike tour leaders. The bike tour, Sojourn Bicycling, is very low impact. They do not use paper plates and disposable tableware but the real thing. They collect the plates and silverware, take it back to the inn and wash it for the next day. I recommend them highly. They are really sensitive to Mother Earth.

It's great when families recycle. I love to see little kids at the recyling center pitching the plastic bottles in the bins. It's even greater when big business joins the effort. Last year, Nielsen Media Research, one of the largest employers in the country, started a recycling program for their 3400 employees. Employees are now recycling over 120,000 pounds of cardboard a year, office paper, aluminum, plastic bottles, CD's, cell phones, packing materials, etc. They also use recycled content toilet paper and paper towels. I'm impressed!