The best way to recycle … is not to !!  ♻

Recycling is a politically correct way of separating out garbage, putting it in a separate bin in hopes that the waste material will be sold as scrap and pulverized or melted down into another low-value commodity. It sounds great, but it still reflects a lot of waste and under-utilized materials much of which quickly will end up in a landfill.

The best way to recycle is not to. That doesn’t mean that if you shouldn’t separate out your bottles and cans, but you should generally avoid purchasing things that have to be thrown away. It’s better to save and invest your money, look for sustainable assets that last a long time.

When I own my own land, I want to own maybe not a tiny home but certainly a small cabin with only the most minimal of furnishings and appliances. I want things that are simple, unlikely to break quickly and last a long time. Kind of how I live currently in my small apartment – with as little things as possible. But maybe even simpler – with fewer appliances, water and propane I’ve hauled in, electricity I’ve generated on site.

My goal would be to make one trip or less to the transfer station — and most of my waste being scrap metal or other recyclable commodities like aluminum cans, tin cans and glass. Maybe occasionally, I might have a junk appliance or a tire or something else that I need to toss, but by buying less they’re would be even less then that.

I would save paper products like junk mail and cardboard boxes for animal bedding and fire starting in the woodstove or campfire pit. Food waste would be saved for compost or feeding to the chickens and pigs. Aluminum and tin cans crushed for recycling. Plastic wrappers, milk bottles, netwrap and miscellaneous trash would be tossed in feed bags — and be burned in a hot fire – not a smoldering burn barrel.

That way, virtually no trash would end up in the landfill, both saving the environment and landfill space. If I can reuse something, the better. Plastic bottles make good feed scoops, paper for bedding, so forth. Buying in bulk means less packaging, and less waste. Urban recycling might be good for cities, but ultimately the most important thing is to minimize waste that has to be disposed via recycling or elsewise.