The production as well as the disposal of everything we throw away has a cost, both for the consumer and the environment. Raw materials and energy had to be used to make the products - some from renewable sources and some not. This is just the first cost.

The second cost is the price of going to landfills. And there is a less considered third price of potential land, air, and water pollution from the toxins our garbage often contains. Landfill space is quickly vanishing. Pollution levels are increasing. Reduction, reuse, and recycling on everyone's part can positively impact our resources and environment.

Using recycled content (as opposed to new/raw) materials provides approximately 50% energy savings and 85% reduction in industrial air pollution. And using recycled materials can also conserve approximately 50% in industrial water use and reduces industrial water pollution by about 40%. This also reduces demand on our virgin/raw materials and resources. For example recycled paper can reduce the demand for virgin wood pulp by approximately 40%, as well as realize reductions in energy and water use, and air and water pollution.

The easiest, least expensive, and safest ways to reduce these impacts are to produce less, use less, reuse more, and recycle everything we can. Of the millions of tons of garbage Americans produce each year it is estimated that more than 70% of it could be recycled. For example, Americans spend more on food packaging in a given year than American farmers receive in net income. Buying bulk items and products with little or no packaging, sometimes called precycling, can reduce what goes into the waste stream in the first place.

The City of Austin offers an extensive recycling program, with curbside pick-up of paper, glass and plastic for single-family homes. This section outlines methods of storing recyclable materials, both household and hazardous, and the provisions a builder or designer will need to make.

See also the Commercial Recycling section of this Sourcebook and the Green Building Factsheets for introductions to this and other green building topics.

The most common things Americans throw away are glass, aluminum, paper, and kitchen and yard waste (often called organic waste). The importance of recycling becomes apparent when we think of just a few of the impacts. For instance, the energy saved by recycling one glass bottle will light a 100-watt bulb for four hours. An aluminum can in a landfill wastes as much energy as it would if you filled it half-way with gasoline and poured it out - and it will still not be decomposed after 500 years. If everyone in the U.S. recycled just 1/10 of their newsprint, we would save the equivalent of 25,000,000 trees each year. Composting organic waste is not only good for soils, this waste accounts for about 70% of the average American's garbage.

The primary location in a home where refuse is received and collected is the kitchen. This is the best location to initially separate materials that can be recycled. Otherwise owners are less likely to recycle. Recycling is more likely to occur if it can be accomplished in a neat convenient manner, which is why built-in systems are encouraged.

The recycling holding area is the next step for making recycling convenient and routine. After materials have accumulated in the kitchen, they can then be transferred to containers in an area convenient to taking them out for curbside pickup or to be taken to a collection center. A good location for the holding area is a section of the garage.

The outside wall of a garage is a good location for a hazardous material storage cabinet. These might be items such as paints, fertilizers, pest control and cleaning products. A vent to the outdoors from the cabinet is easily installed in such a location. These cabinets should be locked to increase child safety. The importance of such a feature becomes clear when we consider that the average home today has more chemicals than the average laboratory 100 years ago.

Kitchen recycling centers

These are simply components inside a standard section of a kitchen cabinet that can hold 1-4 containers and easily move in and out of the cabinet. Space may also be given for a container, such as those often used for garbage under kitchen sinks, or may be attached to the backs of cabinet doors.

There are standard products available from several suppliers listed in the Resources section. These require normal installation skills and methods.

Recycling holding area

This can be as simple as providing space for trash containers with wheels (for locations with curbside pickup) in a convenient and unobtrusive section of the garage.

The goal is to make recycling convenient and routine. The location for recyclables might also be in a covered box alongside the house. This could be accomplished in various ways, depending on the design/layout of the house and type of recycling services available.

Hazardous materials storage and holding cabinet

It should be noted that it is good practice to minimize and/or eliminate hazardous materials in general.

The primary features of a hazardous materials storage/holding cabinet are a vent to the outdoors, a lockable, weather-stripped door, shelves for holding materials that are in use, and room to hold empty hazardous material containers until they can be properly disposed of.

Ideally, these cabinets are built on an outside wall of the house, or in the garage.

See "Interior Designers" in Yellow Pages.

See "Kitchen Accessories", "Kitchen Cabinets and Equipment - Household", "Hardware-Retail" and "Home Centers" in Yellow Pages.

The Container Store
9629 Research Blvd.
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 349-0555
www.containerstore.com

Hi-Rise Recycling Systems, Inc.
8505 NW 74th St.
Miami, FL 33166
(800) 231-3888
Multi-story recycling system

The Home Depot
10107 Research Blvd.
(512) 795-8011
5400 Brodie Ln.
(512) 892-7887
www.homedepot.com

Ikea USA
Catalogue
www.ikea.com
Recycling bins in cabinets

RECYCLIT Inc.
3814 Pebbles Rd.
Florence, SC 29501
(800) 353-5136
"Recyclit" through the wall, outdoor storage recycling system

Rev-A-Shelf
2409 Plantside Dr.
Jeffersontown, KY 40299
(800) 626-1126
www.rev-a-shelf.com
Kitchen cabinet storage management systems and containers

City of Austin Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility
4411 Meinardus Rd.
Austin, TX 78744
(512) 416-8998

The City accepts household quantities of home chemicals for disposal and recycling. The Center is open every Wednesday from noon to 7 p.m. to collect materials such as paint, motor oil, garden chemicals, pesticides, and cleaning chemicals. The facility is not designed to accept waste from businesses. See the Commercial Recycling section in this Sourcebook for information regarding businesses. To use the facility you must be a resident of Austin.

City of Austin Solid Waste Services Information Line
(512) 499-2111
www.ci.austin.tx.us/sws
Information on garbage collection, curb side recycling and yard waste collection.

Ecology Action
707 E. 9th St.
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 322-0000
www.ecology-action.org

Ecology Action was founded in 1970 as an all-volunteer group that sought to promote several different environmental initiatives, most notably recycling. Today, the nonprofit organization operates a drop-off recycling network in six Central Texas counties that accepts glass bottles, newspapers, magazines, catalogs, aluminum and steel cans, aluminum foil, office paper, junk mail, cardboard, paperboard, and plastic bottles. The organization promotes awareness of solid waste and environmental issues, serves as a community environmental resource, and continually works to develop new strategies to promote conservation within the state of Texas.