Where Are All of the Recycling Centers?

Today my goal was to get out the old phone book and call around in order to find a Recycling Center in my area - or near my area - that would accept my glass and plastic recyclables. Would you believe I had no luck? Is that something?!? I called every place listed and no one recycles plastic or glass here! Every place I called said that since Hurricane Katrina they no longer (1) accept plastics & glass or (2) recycle at all. The closest one I found was a 45 minute drive from my house! In a direction I never go in! Here I am, trying to do all that I can to RECYCLE and I can't even do that! I would think they'd make it easy for people who really want to help the environment. People who want to make that extra effort to do something active. Already roadblocked! But I will not let this stop me! I'll find a way.
OK, done with my rant.
I did some research on the web today and found out some very interesting facts:

*20 years ago, only 1 roadside recycling program existed in the US

*In 1999, recycling and composting activities prevented about 64 million tons of    material from ending up in landfills and incinerators


*Only 28% of Americans recycle their waste!

*Figures suggest 60% of all household waste can be recycled or composted, but the largest nation in the UK, England, appears to be only recycling 17.7%!


*Germany recycles over 70% of all their waste! (my SIL if from there and she and my BIL are living there again).

Here is how the Germans do it:
 
There are at least five types of rubbish bin in the courtyards of apartment buildings and inside people's houses. Luckily, the bins are colour-coded, to avoid any confusion - a yellow bin for packaging (old milk cartons etc), a blue bin for paper and cardboard, bins for glass (separated into ones for clear, brown and green glass) a "Bio" bin designed for left-over food and plant waste. Finally, there is a black bin for the rest of the rubbish (or for those people who do not bother to sort out their rubbish).

 -BBC News, Recycling Around the World

This is how we need to be! This is the perfect set up. It makes it so easy to recycle and help the environment! And all you have to do is separate it yourself in the color-coded cans! How easy is that? I love the whole concept!
I'm really going to keep going with this! I have been so inspired by reading about how other countries do it. And I know I can find a way to get these recycled. In the meantime, I'm not going to drink out of any more plastic bottles. Tonight I filled a pitcher with water from the tap. That is what I'll drink tomorrow and if I leave to go somewhere, I'll just fill a 'Go' cup with my water from the fridge and take that with me. I feel Greener already! In addition to my water cup, I'm also going to start my own Compost Pile that will eliminate the food portion of my waste. I'm learning that it's not just about recycling, it's about eliminating the overall amount. And every little bit counts ;-)