Ideas for Recycling Projects

New York City, in just its five boroughs, has a population of over 8 million and in an area smaller than most states; you can just imagine how much waste is created on a daily basis.  Recycling in New York City is mandatory and has been since July 1989.  Before that date, starting in 1986, recycling was voluntary and as it began to catch on, recycling-educating materials from pamphlets, decals to TV and newspaper advertisements flooded the area up until 1997, when all five boroughs and all 59 districts were recycling all of the same materials. By this time an impact was being made in recycling waste right up until the events of September 11th, 2001.  After the 9/11 tragedy forced budget cuts were implemented for the Department of Sanitation.

New York City had filled to capacity six landfills and needed to keep them closed from 1965 to 1991, which left open only one active landfill; Fresh Kills in Staten Island, which remained the only trash-accepting landfill until it closed for good in 2001.

Recycling bags helping the environment

You may not be aware, but in the United States, we are using bags all of the time!  There are the bags we get at the grocery store, the ones we pack lunches in, the ones other retail items come in and everything that is packaged by the manufacturer.  Inevitibly we could all end up, literally, buried under the pile of bags that we collect in a life time. And what a waste that would be!  The good news is that most of those bags come from recycled products and with any luck, in the recycle process, will return to the start and be recycled into bags that we will use again and again.

People can reuse the bags as lunch bags, rather than the old way of using a new "brown bag" for lunch carrying purposes.  It may not seem like a great effort but each and every effort, no matter how little, is having an impact.

Outdoor play time & recycling

Without a doubt the best play time is spent outside in the fresh air and in an effort to remain responsible to the environment there are a few things to keep in mind when out and about.

Spending a day in a park or at a beach will greatly outweigh the alternative to watching TV and running electronics in your home, depriving yourself the added benefit of fresh air and exercise.  Walking the beach will never affect your electric bill and picking up after yourself will only encourage the next person to do the same.  The power to make choices about what to do with our leisure time is great and being able to choose an activity that will not impact your financial responsibilities is a wonderful freedom.