Greening Your Kitchen: How to Implement Recycling and Composting Practices at Home

Did you know that recycling in the US is on the decline? Though Americans are becoming increasingly concerned about climate change, our worries aren’t reflected in how we deal with waste. 

Home recycling and composting are some of the easiest ways to build a greener home, helping the planet from the comfort of your kitchen. 

If you’ve let your sustainability slide recently, get back on track with these top tips.

Look into Local Recycling and Composting Guidelines

There are different rules when it comes to what you can and can’t recycle or compost depending on which state you’re in. Some local councils, for example, provide food waste bins that make getting rid of organic waste simple! Others won’t take your home composting at all, leaving it up to you to deal with.

It’s also vital you know what you can and can’t recycle. Some items are accepted by councils nationwide, like type 1 plastic (PET) and cardboard. Knowing instantly whether an item will be collected in your recycling bin is a great way to speed up your systems and make sorting your rubbish a whole lot easier.

Downloading and using the Recycle Coach App is a great way to keep up with what is accepted or not accepted in your area. You just need to use the What Goes Where search tool if you your municipality participates in our program.

Learn the Right Ways to Home Compost

There are lots of questions to ask when you’re creating a greener kitchen, from how sustainable are wooden worktops to whether dishwashers are more eco-friendly than hand washing. But many people forget to consider home composting. Could your kitchen become a hotspot for eco-friendly food waste?

Learning how to compost at home can reduce your carbon footprint, decrease the strain on landfills, and put your potato peelings and banana skins to good use! Start by looking into what you can and can’t compost at home. Many budding composters know that raw fruit and veg can go into their bin, but they’re not aware that egg shells, cardboard, and coffee grounds can also be composted.

Look into the different ways you can turn your waste into useful compost for your garden. Some people use outdoor compost bins, whilst others use sealed boxes indoors and bacteria mixes, like Bokashi mix, for easy, smaller-scale composting. 

Invest in a Good Compost Bin

If your local council doesn’t provide you with a good composting bin to keep in your home, it’s time to take matters into your own hands. There are tons of home composting bins out there in varying sizes and at different price points. Just be sure to find one that has filters and a tight seal to keep any smells inside.

Give Away Your Food Waste

If your council doesn’t collect them, home composting isn’t the only sustainable way of dealing with your peelings. There are plenty of other people who will take them for you! If you have friends or family with gardens, ask if they do their own composting. If they do, see if they’d like your peelings and cardboard waste to add to their collection.

You can also find local gardening communities and sustainable initiatives that will be happy to have your food waste. Search online or post in a local Facebook group to see who wants your waste.

Organize Your Recycling

Recycling at home isn’t quite as complex as home composting. But, there are still tricks that can make it simpler and quicker.

We highly recommend organizing your recycling into different bins or boxes as you go if your council requires items to be separated. This is much easier than chucking everything into a bag to be sorted out later.

Some homeowners have different bins for plastic, paper, and metal that they can easily chuck their waste into, ready to be put out on recycling day. These are kept next to their normal bin as a reminder to recycle rather than throw them away.

Make sure you rinse out anything dirty, too. From metal tins to plastic pasta pots, give your materials a clean before throwing them away to ensure they can be recycled. 

Recycling at Larger Stores

Some recyclable products won’t be collected by the local council, but they can still be recycled. These will often say ‘Recycle with plastic bags at larger stores’ – or something along those lines. This simply means that larger supermarkets will often accept the products at their recycling points.

These points may be in-store or in the car park. If you’re unsure, ask a member of staff and they’ll be able to direct you to the correct recycling location.

Get the Whole Family Involved

Unless you live alone, it’s important to get everybody you live with recycling and composting, too! Whenever you bring in a new practice, such as a compost bin for your waste or recycling fruit juice cartons, be sure to let your family, partner, or housemates know.

If you live with children, you can encourage them to pick up your good habits by rewarding them for recycling. Add stickers to a chart every time your little one puts something into the correct recycling bin, and give them a treat after a certain number of stars have been collected. You can also try out fun recycling games, making sustainability more exciting for your children.

Final Words

The amount of waste humans produce simply isn’t sustainable for our planet. But, by implementing great recycling and composting practices in your home, you can help minimize your personal impact and make the world a greener place. Use the tips we’ve mentioned here to kickstart your journey!

Author Bio

Daniel Groves has a background in Business Economics and is passionate about the growth of sustainable businesses. Daniel has collaborated with many online publications to further develop his knowledge and share his experience with like-minded eco-conscious entrepreneurs, business owners, and growth strategists. Connect with Daniel on LinkedIn.