7 Recycling Solutions for Small Houses, Condos, and Apartments

When we first moved into our condo my husband and I were looking forward to having room for a recycling center in the kitchen. I had my eye on this double pullout trash and recycling bins for under the kitchen sink but as luck would have it, it was too big for my condo sink cabinet.

I installed a smaller single pullout garbage can similar to this one (mine is discontinued) and I’m glad I did. (I can’t live without the products I mention in this post and believe in them so strongly I’m willing to use my affiliate links to do it!)

Little did I know that using a kitchen trash can smaller than our household recycling bin would be the incentive for my family to eventually start recycling and reducing waste in almost every way we can. In addition to reusing, and refusing, we starting recycling to the max using local businesses and organizations that recycle the items our curbside city recycling program does not.

How do I recycle in a small space while keeping the collection bins accessible and from cluttering up the house? Keep reading and I’ll show you how!
 
 

7 Small Space Recycling Solutions

Let’s take a tour of my small space recycling centers!

8 Zero Waste Lies

If you are trying to be a Zero Waste or Trash Fee home you try to reduce the need to use the landfill by refusing, reducing, reusing, repairing, recycling, and donating your household waste to get your output to as close to zero as you can.

There are some in Internet Land who show you how they do it with Pinterest perfect photos of bamboo toothbrushes like these, stylishly minimalist rooms (you can learn about the minimalism movement here), and  haughtily looking down their nose at people who  – gasp! – follow low waste practices because their primary goal is to pay off bills, live within their means, or save money, with environmental concerns coming in a close second or even lower down the list.

Disclosure: I am including some affiliate links in this post for your convenience.

8 Truths of Trash Free and Zero Waste Living

In my over 10 years of blogging about green living and doing it in one form or another for even longer, I know there are some truths to Zero Waste Living and I also know that the reality is not always what you see in those Pinterest perfect Zero Waste Kitchens either.

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3 Year Old Boy Starts a Recycling Company to Save the Ocean (and for College)

At three years old my only ambition was, um, not much beyond what any other three year old was into: toys, meals, and playtime.

Because 3 year olds.

Not Ryan. When he was three, actually three and a half as he always emphasizes in interviews, he started a recycling company called Ryan’s Recycling. Ryan was fascinated a trip to a recycling center and asked his parents if he could give bags to his neighbors so maybe they could give their recyclables to him.

 Pin this post to share Ryan's fantastic story!

 Photo courtesy of Ryan's Recycling.

Four years later Ryan is now seven years old and estimates he has recycled over 200, 000 glass and plastic drink bottles and aluminum cans. He’s saved 10 thousand dollars from his recycling buisness and wants to to put it toward new business equipment – a garbage truck!