We are big on recycling in my house … we have big trash cans to collect aluminum beverage cans (we save the pop tops seperately for a friend), plastic bottles and even the thicker aluminum from cat food and other canned foods.  My husband also has aluminum press plates that we take into recycle from work!

My kids often complain about the rinsing, the sorting and the saving of all these items.  They “know” that it helps our earth, but I don't think they really understand how.  I came across this article in my inbox this morning, it also has a video to show kids (and adults).  I think we are going to sit down before school break is over and really discuss it.  Maybe even have my husband take them down to the recycling center.

oh no!  time to find it then!!  I don't like the bags cluttering up my garage or side yard, I need to get it OUT!  lol  and recently we have added our junk mail to the recycling - hubby takes it into work to add to the paper bins he has picked up each month.

in our house, the kids share in the profit as well.  they are responsible for pulling the pop tops off of the cans and then crushing them before taking them out to the bins.  the pop tops go to a friend that uses them for credit at the hospital - she has 2 children on dialysis and they give her minutes based on the number of pop tops she brings with her.  it takes away from the weight of the aluminum, but I think it's worth it for sure!

I don't have it all down yet, but I am working on it!  I just hope that my children take away with them the idea of helping our earth and not just the hassle that it is to keep it going, ya know?

I think it is great when recycling can immediately benefit a program!

A friend of ours is a single dad with a teenage daughter.  Money is tight, and a way that he teaches his new “driver” financial responsibility is that they collect all the used gatorade and water bottles after soccer matches and practices.  He and his daughter take these bottles down to the recycling center and collect the money for them, which is used to put gas in her car when she goes out with friends.  His daughter is not fond of the work of collecting the bottles, emptying them and taking them down to the center, but she has become much more appreciative of the money behind the work … and the gas in her car!

 I mentioned in another thread about herbal drinks. It comes in bottles and for every bottle cap that we return to the supermarket, 20 cents will be donated to the kids at the cancer society. I donated heaps of bottle caps and I'm glad I'm doing my part to help the kids.

That's very admirable Nazreen, good for you! You guys are making me look bad. I honestly didn't know you could do things like that with tabs and bottle caps.

Our waste management system gives us a recycling bin with acceptable codes on the lid, but we really only throw cardboard and paper into that bin. Everything else we take cash for! Why give it to the city for free? 

 
Haha that's a good one, Diane. In Singapore, we do not know what really goes on at the recycling center. All we do is throw plastic, bottle and paper in the labelled bin provided. Wouldn't it be great if they can trade them for cash, too? Hmmm…..if they do, just imagine how much I would have made….

Actually there are middle-aged men who calls themselves 'rags and bone' men. They only collect newspapers and trade them for cash. They'll walk pass our home with a small horn to signal that they are there if we need to sell away our used papers. We call them over and they'll weigh the stack of papers and trade for cash. It's not much. We can earn a dollar for a few kilograms of newpapers. A day's newpapers costs 80 cents and all we got back for stacks of them are just a dollar!!