Here in my country, there are very few governmental or institutional actions in favor of recycling and waste management in this sense. The waste goes all together, it is not separated by type of material, so recycling depends on the individual's will.
Waste recycling
There are some private organizations here that, from time to time, organize collection days for recyclable materials. They usually take place one weekend a month. They collect glass, cardboard, plastic, Tetrapak, and some other materials. So one of the things I do is to keep some waste. Especially the plastic containers to take them when there are these days for recycling.
And speaking of organizations aiming for recycling initiatives. A few days ago, I did a post about a mural in Caracas made with plastic lids. Thanks to that post, I discovered that the organization behind it, which has been working for years on recycling initiatives, has a project to refurbish spaces in public schools with few resources. Their idea is to beautify the spaces by making murals or incorporating decorative elements on the walls, using plastic lids and other recycled materials such as CDs. So they are asking for donations of both. It seems the opportunity to get out of a pile of unused CDs I have that I didn't want to throw away with the everyday garbage. And now, they could be reused for a good cause.
Close-up of the lids on the OkomuralRecycling at home
Ever since my son was little, I've recycled the stationery he needed to do his homework. I recycle cardboard, tissue paper, cellophane paper, foamy sheets, and even pieces of wrapping paper. Even for a while, when Venezuela was going through the worst years of the materials shortage crisis, they started making cereal boxes out of recycled cardboard, and I used to keep the dismantled boxes since the cardboard was perfect for the crafts my son was asked to do at school.
Another thing I have always recycled is notebooks. Many times my son didn't use all the pages from one year to the next, and what I used to do was to take off the used pages and reuse the notebooks the following school year.
Now that my son is about to graduate from school, it's time to fill a box with all that material to donate.
I try to reuse glass and plastic jars. I usually prefer to buy things that come in glass jars. And I use them to store jams, pickles, and homemade creams. And I use the plastic ones to store things, like screws, nuts or hooks. And for the plastic bottles, I use some of them in my balcony garden. And lately, my son has come up with the idea of planting some decorative plants in cans (photo top of post).
The clothes we don't wear anymore, we usually donate them. And if they are very worn out, the old flannels and socks, I use them to polish shoes and clean the wooden furniture.
My mum, who has always been good at handicrafts, makes things out of scraps of fabric. Like this little purse, she gave me and made with a piece of upholstery fabric.
If we look around us, as Lizelle told me, we will have a lot of things that are recycled. But it is also important that we reduce consumption. I don't consider myself an excessive consumerist, but for some time now, I have started to question myself every time I buy something if I really need it. Because the key is to apply the 3 Rs, Reduce, reuse and recycle, not just one.
This is my out-of-competition post for the Silver Bloggers community #BOM, this month about Recycling.
Remember you still have some hours to join as the deadline is Monday, June, 13 at midnight UTC. You can check instructions and prizes at Blog of the Month - New Theme for 13 June 2022.
Thanks for reading!
June 12, 2022