| Our family has taken on recycling in a big way. We have no curbside pickup for recyclables, but store everything in reusable plastic bins in the garage and then go to the local recycling days when we are out and about. I just give them everything including the aluminum cans for free because it helps cover the expenses of the non-profit agency that does it.
So getting on to the money savings tips, I have also been collecting household metal scraps like stripped screws, bent nails, old brake rotors, old metal toys, broken bike parts, electronic cases, etc. and putting them in durable plastic garbage bins in the garage (homemade wood crates from scrap would be cheaper still). It took a few years, but I recently collected a whopping $15 for 300 lbs (that's 5 cents/lb. or $100/ton).
Obviously it's not a lot of money, but recycling is better than throwing the stuff in the landfill. It doesn't really take a lot of extra time to recycle if you are organized and have space. Recycling is mostly about having a different mindset, call it cheap or frugal if you will. |
