Quote Originally Posted by JaneV2.0 View Post
I am so over recycling. The rules seem to get more byzantine by the year: shredded paper goes in transparent bags in your recycling bin; shredded paper should be "layered" in your yard waste bin; styrofoam can be taken an hour or so's drive away; plastic bags can be bundled and deposited in your recycle bin; plastic bags should really be taken back to the store and put in a bin there; rules for the periodic neighborhood hazardous/miscellaneous waste seem to change with every scheduled event...So I have piles of used batteries, bins in every room for paper and cardboard, boxes with electronic gear waiting for the next pickup. It feels like a part-time job. Of course I'll carry on--I know I should appreciate that my community has a robust recycling system--and I do--and of course a partial solution is to buy less, but the whole process peeves me. It never ends.
Jane that is not very earth friendly of you.

As I stand and sort and exercise my "awesome compacting ability" (that's DH's subtle dig at my excess poundage) on our household waste, it's kind of my zen moment. I do it mindfully and keep the bad ideas out of my head because really, I know that it has limited utility but there is little I can do about the actions of others. You think that my ghetto neighbors bother to separate green compost products from recyclables from "regular" garbage, let alone pull out #6 plastics from all of the others? Not bloody likely. Hell, I'm happy if they actually get throwaways in a receptacle of any kind, keeping it off of my garden. It's entirely unrealistic to expect them to sort according to any kind of schematic, no matter how "simple." Pigs.