Setting Up a Home Recycling Center in Your Garage

It’s never too late to start recycling! If you’re looking for ways to shrink your carbon footprint, it’s time to get serious about reducing waste. Setting up a home recycling center is easy—and a garage is a great place to do it.

Here are four simple steps to setting up a home recycling center in your garage.

Learn the local recycling rules and regulations.

Before you get started, we recommend visiting your town website to learn more about the specific rules and regulations regarding recycling. From lists of what you can and can’t recycle to the weekly collection schedule, you’ll find everything you need to know.

Establish the main home recycling center.

A garage is the perfect hub for your home recycling, especially if it’s right off the kitchen. This way you won’t have to deal with any accumulating odors or messes indoors, but you’ll still have easy access to your bins. That said, you may find that it’s helpful to establish mini recycling areas in various locations throughout your home that you can empty each day into the main hub.

Stay organized.

There are plenty of simple DIY tricks out there for conserving space and staying organized with your home recycling, such as these recycle bin hangers. As you get going, you’ll have a better idea of what size bins you need and how to best store them. And don’t forget to label your bins to avoid any confusion!

Create a schedule.

The best way to get into the habit of doing something new is to establish a routine and stick to it. Use the calendar on your smartphone to set weekly reminders for yourself to take the recycling to the curb. Every night after dinner, empty the mini recycling bins into the main home recycling center in your garage. Keeping a schedule will help you stay organized and avoid clutter.

What have you learned from recycling at home? Share your tips with us in the comments below!