HOW TO RECYCE IN A SMALL KITCHEN

I have a small kitchen. My house was built in the 60’s when storage space was still considered a luxury not a necessity; and because of it I’m forced to find clever ways to fit all the pots, pans, plates, glasses, serving dishes, small appliances, and oh yeah, food into my small kitchen. Because of my seriously limited space, recycling is tough.  The fact that there is no recycling pick up where I live makes things even more complicated.

I only have a system in place for aluminum but I’ve been inspired to add plastic, paper, steel and glass to the list. The fact that my local recycling drop-off just increased the list of items that it will accept had a lot to do with my new-found enthusiasm. The challenge is working out a system that will make it easy to add these new recyclables in my small kitchen and be able to store significant quantities so that I’m not making frequent trips to the drop off.

First, I looked at the space I had already devoted to trash collection and recycling. I have a trash can under my sink and an aluminum receptacle in the island. When I try to fit another trash can under the sink, it dislodges the plumbing. I found that one out the hard way. So I can either use my one recycling container upstairs for all my recyclables instead of just aluminum, or add another.

I have a sixteen year old son who travels in a pack of friends and they seem to land at my house more often than not. All of them drink soda so we go through a lot of aluminum cans. OK, I drink soda, too. So I think that I’m probably going to need more receptacles if I’m going to recycle more items.

As small as my kitchen is, I had some room at the end of the island so I needed a narrow trash can. When I went to the local housewares store, I didn’t find anything that was made specifically for recycling. I settled on a really pretty stainless steel container that is heavy duty, holds 40 liters and cost around $90. I know that all steel has some amount of recycled content and I like this as much as I like the look of the can. Now I use this can for all my recyclables other than aluminum. When it’s full, I take it downstairs to the garage (where I have more room) and sort it into separate bins. This way, I manage to keep my small kitchen neat and clean and use multiple bins in my garage for storage so I make the trip to the recycling drop off once every two or three weeks.

QUICK TIPS FOR SMALL KITCHENS:

1. Use one container for all recyclables.

2. Rinse all your recyclables before tossing them into the recycling can. If you

     have curbside recycling pick up, you’re probably set. If you have to drop off

     your own recyclables, then you’ll also need to create a sorting station.

3. Set up a sorting station someplace that you have room like a garage.

4. Have individual bins in this sorting station that correspond to the containers

     at your drop-off.