ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Personal Benefits of Recycling

Updated on May 7, 2023

Understanding

Recycling is beneficial to the soul. It is also beneficial for reducing stress and earning money. The physical aspect of recycling aids in increasing exercise. There is also the aspect of keeping the home clean as recycling requires a bit of organization.

Reasons to Recycle

  • Environment: There will be less waste in landfills, less trash on the roadside and the air will not suffer as much.
  • Additional income: Metals are among recyclable items that can be sold giving you additional income.
  • Saving Money: Money from recycling can be placed into savings without being missed. It is money that was already spent and while you might not recoup the total amount recouping some is still good.
  • Repurpose: Items can be repurposed into different items for use around the home.
  • Entertainment: Children can draw on empty cereal boxes or make themselves costumes. Items that would otherwise be thrown out can be used in play to help put off purchasing expensive toys.
  • Crafting: Items that are not taken to recycling facilities can often be turned into craft projects to help keep children entertained or simply decorate the home.

Storage, Craft Supplies and Recycling Bins

Reusing for Storage
Reusing for Storage | Source
recycling as craft supplies
recycling as craft supplies | Source
for the city's recycling bins
for the city's recycling bins | Source

Frugality and Recycling

Recycling is an amazing way to live a more frugal lifestyle. Not only can you save money by recycling you can also earn some money by recycling. How much money is earned or saved will depend on the amount of time and effort that you put into it.

Repurpose Items

There are a number of items that can be recycled or reused in the home in order to assist with financial goals. These goals vary depending on the individual. Aluminum, scrap metal, paper, plastic and clothing can all be recycled or re-purposed in order to save or earn money. In some cases you will even make a little bit of money.

The money earned, even the smallest amounts, is often money that you have already spent meaning it is money saved. The items that you can not sell can be put out for pickup or dropped off at designated recycling bins in the city.

Storage Solutions

Plastic coffee containers can be used as storage for bags of coffee so that you don't have to purchase additional containers to store it in. When candles burn there is always a portion that does not burn. Instead of tossing it and purchasing a new candle you can dig the wick out and store the remaining wax in a resealable container that you have recycled until you have enough to make another candle. The only cost will be purchasing new wicks and candles holders if you do not already have them on hand. You may need to invest in a melting pot or you can make your own. Given the price of candles and your preference you can save a great deal of money this way.

It is important that you always check local recycling policies and disposal requirements for hazardous materials to ensure that you are practicing safety as you recycle.

Old furniture can be recycled too with a little bit of work, some fabric to cover it or a whole new idea.

Additional Income

In some areas, even those with curb side pickup, there are centers that purchase recyclable materials. These materials are mostly metals that you can sell for cash. In order to earn the most from recycling the metals need to be separated by type and as clean as possible. Different metals pay different rates and clean metals earn more because total weight is reduced when materials are dirty.

Earnings from recycling can be track through use of a chart. The more materials hauled to the center in a single load the more earned. Some metals such as aluminum are worth more past a specific number of pounds which varies by facility.

Keeping Track of Earnings

metal type
price per pound
#of pounds
total earnings
exp. aluminum
40cents
100
$40
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Visible Benefits

Savings Deposits

Money earned from recycling can be put into savings accounts or used to purchase CODs.

Improving Finances

Placing financial goals where they are visible helps in creating a plan to achieve them. Mark off a step and note progress each time money is earned or saved by making something that would otherwise be purchased.

Leftover food can be tossed into a compost pile for use as fertilizer and potting soil to save money. Growing food inexpensively reduces dependency on grocery stores leading to increases self sufficiency.

Jobs are created through recycling. In areas with curbside pickup someone has to drive the truck. Recycling centers need people to unload and weigh the items brought in.

Lesson Learned

Recycling has numerous advantages. This one simple act can make the environment cleaner while increasing funds. It takes little time and you'll feel better when you do it. The more you recycle the more it will become second nature. The efforts will pay off as savings account balances increase.

Increasing self sufficiency through recycling is an additional bonus. Even rain water can recycled for private use making the water/electricity bill go down in the process.

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

© 2011 Laurie Childree

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)