How to Build a Home Recycling Center

It is a way for us to easily organize our recycling and make it easier to transport it from our house to the drop-off locations we use.

Our recycling center is made up of 4 large plastic garbage cans with well-fitting lids.  As they are located outside, we don't want water getting inside and making a mess of the contents.  Each one has a garbage bag in it that can be pulled out and used to transport the contents to the drop-off center.

The four categories that we recycle are glass, cardboard, aluminum, and plastics.  Mounted to one of the deck beams above the can that we use for aluminum cans is a can crusher.  You put 6 cans into it, and crush them, and they fall directly into the garbage can so you only handle them once.  You get a good workout while crushing the cans to get as many as possible into the garbage bags.

Our recycling process starts within the house, as we have two garbage cans in the kitchen where we put the recyclables.  One can is for the aluminum cans, and the other is for the glass, cardboard, and plastics.  When the cans are full, it is my daughter's responsibility to take them outside onto the deck, and sort them into the proper containers.  When one can is full, she pulls out the garbage bag, ties it up, and we put it into the shed or garage until we have enough to make a trip to the drop-off center, putting a fresh garbage bag in the can.

In addition to crushing the aluminum cans, we flatten all of the cardboard to fit as much as possible into one bag.  Once we have enough bags, we fill up the truck & back seats of the car, and off to the drop-off center.  There is one not too far from our house, with large green bins for the various items. 

Recycling can be a great project to get your kids involved with from the household chores.  When we take the aluminum cans into the company that purchases them, my daughter gets to keep the money made. 

If you don't have room to put together a major recycling center like we have out on a deck or patio, see if you can fit garbage cans into the garage or a shed - these might be even better options, to keep the cans out of the elements.

With the aluminum, plastic, and glass items, its important to wash or rinse them before taking them outside.  Even with secure lids, they can attact bugs.

We will be expanding our recycling efforts to include newspaper and scrap paper in the near future.  I'm hoping to include a designated area in my office (which generates most of this scrap paper) to be the collection area for the house.