Lack of recycling facilities in the US - is it just me?

[Kimberly 2]

I've just returned from another trip to the US; this time I spent a week in Florida.Whether I'm there or just across the border in Buffalo I find it so strange that you cannot find recycling bins anywhere whether it be at a home or out at the mall. Is recycling still not happening there?Even at Disney I saw one recycling bin the whole time (close to Space Mountain - guess it's only a thing of the future)This is something I find so disturbing crossing the border. We have been faithful recyclers since I was about 12 (going back about 18 years here). I've been using a green bin as well for the past few years as it started in Toronto and is now going strong in the Durham region.Do other people notice this? I feel so guilty spending a week at a home in Florida and having to throw away so much that could be recycled. I don't get it. Americans on this site please tell me that you have recycling programs that I just don't know about?

[Duck 16]

Agreed 100%! I'm in the states 10-15 times per year and it always makes me feel gross to throw out juice bottles or pop cans. I don't get it.Either that or there is some system in place behind the scenes that is so advanced that they are doing sorting and so forth after the fact and we just don’t know about it.-Iain

[I'm_now_smarter 0]

I know in some places there is recycling... at my aunt's in the Berkshires (the New York State part), we recycle bottles & cans. She uses newsprint in the (charcoal) BBQ and fireplace, so I don't know if there's formal paper recycling. I don't recall if there's places to recycle in towns or shops; I reuse a water-bottle or jug, filled at home, so rarely need to dispose of bottles or cans. I'll ask her if she can recycle in the city-- ie is it a state-wide policy, or just county.If I don't see something (e.g. conference facility), I'll often a bottle home with me to be recycled... I don't see myself as a recycling fanatic, but like both of you, it's become such a habit, it really bothers me to throw recyclables out.

[MikeT 744]

That's so true....I was recycling newsprint with the Boy Scouts back in 1972.....

[mkt 0]

Specifically at your Disney comment. I worked with for them nearly 5 years, and I can assert that they do recycle quite a bit... everything gets sorted after the fact.Furthermore, in Orlando, where I lived, depending on where you lived either the county or the cities pick up recyclables twice a week with garbage pickup. The recyclables go in separate bins and trucks

[MDFortwoguy 0]

I have noticed that people in the DC area are much more environmentally conscious than they are back in Ohio where I am from.I recycle religiously. I also work at a very large government medical research site (NIH), and there are recycling bins EVERYWHERE here.

[Kimberly 2]

I just find that in Canada it's a country wide thing where you would not have trouble finding a recycling bin anywhere. (I think) I can recycle glass, plastic, cans, newspapers, cardboard etc.In the green bin can go food, paper towels, fast food wrappers, hair, dryer lint and a whole bunch of other things. I barely have garbage anymore. 1 bag every 2 weeks for the two of us. A lot of it is take-out containers like styrofoam. Hopefully they will be able to recycle that going forward. In Toronto I could recycle plastic bags. Not so in Durham region but the grocery store has their own recycling so you can return the bags there. I have the canvas bags but so often forget to take it to the store.

[SCHMART 0]

Norfolk and Virginia beach reycle with city weekly refuse collection. separate bins

[I'm_now_smarter 0]

Ottawa-- I think they're taking styrofoam again. And plastic bags (hope so, have a huge pile from when they didn't!!). Recycling's alternating weeks-- paper one, plastic/glass the other. Right now, they hate me because I,ve been clearing stuff out and have had several piles literally bigger (footprint, not height) than the car. I keep the fabric bags in the trunk of my car... that way, can't forget them (too often). Use them for more than groceries, so sometimes they're otherwise occupied :)We don't have green composting yet-- that'd be nice. Ottawa's talking about it. But we do have leaf & yardwaste pickup in the summer, and I usually toss my produce scraps in with weeds, prunings, etc.

[gotwavs 0]

Where I live in Vancouver, WA we have had recycle bins ever since I've lived here (8 years I think). We just got a big giant recycle bin that is bigger than our trash can within the last few months. We fill it up almost every week. We recycle a lot more than we throw in the trash. I just wish they would accept all plastic rather than just bottles. They also need to make it easier for people to recycle computers and other electronics.

[MikeT 744]

Our family of five puts out one half can of garbage every 4-6 weeks. Everything else is recycled or composted.

[ianjay 6]

We vacation in Florida every year. They re-cycle. It is done after it is all collected. In Toronto, we are chained to a bi-weekly re-cycling/garbage cycle because we keep buying the wrong trucks. The raccoons don't go hungry in our neighbourhood.In Mississauga, the trucks allow collection of everything into an appropriate slot every pickup. They use one driver, we must have two people on one truck. They are in the black, Toronto is constantly crying poor. Go figure. And while you're doing the math, you will probably start to think like provincial and federal politicians and their attitude toward poor old Toronto.One of the reasons I love my smart car is that it was designed with recycling in mind,Ian

[daichan 0]

Our family of five puts out one half can of garbage every 4-6 weeks. Everything else is recycled or composted.

We are about the same at our house although we have fewer people. In Victoria you can recycle just about anything - although somethings you have to search out. I just found a place to recycle my old computer monitor.Just a note on recycling...When we were travelling to Ottawa (through Canada) and back (through the States) I noticed in both countries that hotels/motels don't provide recycling options. However, when we camped, at the campsites in Canada we found recycling bins and in the States we didn't.One last thing, eight years ago, I moved into a new house and asked my neighbour (an American here for a year on a DND exchange) when the garbage and recycling pick up was. His answer about recycling was "I dunno. I'm an American, I don't recycle" I was pretty shocked by his attitude. I am so glad to see from these messages that things are changing.

[landstrasse36 0]

Sadly, there is a lack of public recycling bins. However, curbside is picked up every Friday in my town.

[passionateaboutRUBY 0]

I once carried a week's worth of bottles & cans from NC Outer Banks (an environmentally sensitive area; you would think they would recycle!) 1/2 way across Virginia until I found a drop-off bin. That was 1989, maybe by now they're doing like Florida. In Maine I found they pay back a deposit on cans, in order to get them back for recycling. Don't know how widespread this is?In VT at a campground in 2003, I asked where to put the cans; they had no sorting and no interest.Visiting relatives in OH & NH, we found they are keen with the blue-boxing at home.Here in Hamilton we are near the base industries (glass, paper, metals) that might help the economic viability of recycling. Even here, though, blue boxes in public are still scarce. If you go to a summer festival or fall fair, you can usually find blue bins. Some events (like Burlington Ribfest) have special sorting tents with volunteers - they deal with ALL your food waste & containers.FL sounds like a good system; any word on overall effectiveness?We are in scouting, and we are constantly promoting R-R-R with the kids.