Our Humane Society takes old towels and blankets to soften cages and make things homier.
Check farmers markets for locals who might take your egg cartons and shopping bags. Second hand clothing stores sometimes take bags too.

In my part of Nova Scotia we recycle within an inch of our lives -- we even have "recycling police" . . .

We have to separate, into different blue bags; empty (and cleaned) food containers from newspaper and boxboard. There are long lists of what belongs in each bag.

Each home was issued a numbered compost container and all food waste must be put out in that.

We are allowed only one green/black garbage back per pickup (and we only get pickup every other week). Anything that doesn't go into one of the three recycle streams and doesn't fit into your one allowable opaque bag must be put out in clear bags so it can be inspected.

Anything they don't 'like' gets left behind with a sticker saying it must be resorted and repackaged for a subsequent pickup.

It does work -- Nova Scotia has the best recycling records in the Country (apparently) but OMG, you need a degree in Garbology to live here.

Composting is a whole nother ball game. I love that! There's no chemicals in my garden.

I have often wondered how to start doing composting. The only thing I really know how to do is to use my old coffee grounds...

Any tips on recycling scraps into compost would be wonderful! I don't know where to start...

We recycle everything we can! We give our cans to church for the youth group...the kids just love it when I am drinking my beer in cans

We set out newspapers, all junk mail, paper, cardboard bottles, plastcs and cans out on the curb in bins. We put all our garden and yard waste in a trash can which is then turned into compost/mulch, which we can go get all we want for free.

I just wish there was an easy way to recycle water...we run so much down the drain!

Here are my suggestions (although many have already been mentioned by other posters):

1. Call your city and see what they already sponsor for recycling. My city does mixed recycling, so I can put glass, plastic, and paper/cardboard all into one container. Since recycling is already paid for by the city fees you pay, the more you recycle the less garbage you have (which might result in using a smaller trash bin and save you money that way).

2. Batteries are recyclable at libraries or many electronic stores.

3. I use my plastic bags from stores as trash liners in a small garbage can, saving money on large plastic garbage bags and reusing the ones I already have. Whenever I'm in a store buying just one or two items, I tell them before they bag it that I don't need a bag and just stick it in my purse or carry it. I use cloth bags at the grocery store.

4. I purchase products with as little packaging as possible. I deliberately do NOT buy bottled water (a Brita filter on tap water works for me).

5. I reuse "one-use containers" like cottage cheese containers as things to bring food in to work (just don't use them in the microwave).

6. Send a letter to the Direct Marketing Association (they probably also have an online form), that will cut down the amount of marketing mail you receive. I also call individual companies and request to be removed from their mailing lists.

7. If you live on a semi-busy street, putting old furniture at the curb with a big FREE sign on it is a great way to get things out of the way! Otherwise, freecycle and craigslist offer online classifieds for selling or giving away things.

8. I read all news online, and the presence of the web makes magazines seem mostly redundant. If I have a hankering to read a particular magazine, I go to the library and read it there. If I end up with a magazine in my possession, I drop it off at the gym, doctor's office, or other waiting room for others to enjoy instead of putting it in the recycling.

It can be really simple - just choose a designated area of your garden/yard and start throwing your vegetable-based scraps there (avoid egg shells and animal products, as they will attract foxes, raccoons, etc). A container or chicken-wire will make it look a little neater. You can buy a container that will help it decompose faster, often offered at a discount through your city recycling program. The basic idea is a good mix of "brown" (leaves, branches, dry stuff) and "green" (grass clippings, vegetable scraps) for nitrogen and carbon, use one part green to two parts brown. Keep it moist, but not drenched or dry, and turn it with a pitchfork once a week.

Gary, if you garden, you can get those rain catchers and water your plants with rainwater instead of tap water. I think the best way to "recycle" water is to use less to begin with - low-flow shower heads, turning off the water while sudsing in the shower or brushing teeth, etc.

Gary - there are grey water recycling systems for areas where water use/availability is limited, or where a house is on septic and doesn't want to use too much. They are fairly expensive to set up though, especially when a house is on an urban sewer system and in comparison to that. I agree with phantastica - the best solution for now is to use as little as you can. If you've ever lived with a pump-out septic system you get good at conserving water since it costs you every time the "honey wagon" comes.

You can also get composting toilets - but they're expensive and lots of people don't want to go that far. Some use no water, some use very little.

aphil - we compost our vegetable waste and mix it with leaves/grass etc. I remember when we lived in England our compost pile would grow awesome potatoes from the peelings we put in it! If you want to use it on the garden try not to put in weeds - especially with seed heads. We mix it into the vegetable garden in the fall before the snow.

We recycle whatever we can, and now that we live only 40km from a large centre, what we can is much more than previously. I also try to avoid buying things in small single use containers. My kids take yoghurt and applesauce to school in small reusable tubs (taken from larger ones), similarly they have reusable juice/water bottles for their lunches. We do buy bottled water since we can't drink the municipal water here (tastes too salty) but we buy the RO treated water in 5-gal bottles, not small bottles, and reuse the bottles.

BTW - I remember living in Yellowknife and the dump there was awesome. Lots of scavenging, lots of reuse areas. My kids potty came from the dump. Many things didn't stay there for long - sometimes people would come and check out your truck if you arrived with stuff. On the flip side, they baled and buried "recylables" since there was no market for shipping them south for reprocessing. They were kept separate but I doubt they will ever be dug up and truly recycled. It seemed almost dishonest to have the bins for them but then to bury the stuff anyhow.

Interesting stuff,
Jax

I lucked into a few bails of straw. I let my lettuces grow quite tall, pulled them up and laid them down. When they thoroughly wilt, I'll cover them with straw for the winter. In the spring I'll have nice rich soil under a mulch of straw.
Most of that method is stolen from Ruth Stout's book and articles.

Number one top tip is to stop using plastic grocery sacks and purchase the reusable cloth kind. Most shops here in England sell them for pretty cheap. Just buy one or two at a time if you can't afford any more than that. They hold more product and are stronger so won't go ripping when you lift the tin cans from the boot of the car! I've got 7 good sized ones and 2 smaller hessian ones and that is sufficient to bring home groceries for a family of 4 plus all my childminded kids. You won't regret it. I even take them with me when I go shopping for other things, like clothes and what-not. Still get some strange looks at the department stores when I request no bag but hopefully, it'll catch on!

Now that I'm proficient at recycling and composting, I tend to set out more pink recycle sacks than I do the black rubbish ones. Ugh, even if I have to still transport glass to a local receptacle. I think they're gonna start allowing for glass pick ups soon, though, thankfully!

WOW! THANK YOU everyone for all the tips! I really appreciate it.

I've been donating clothes and such to the Salvation Army & Goodwill for years.

Never thought to recycle the plastic grocery bags but I like the idea of buying reusuable bags better...I think our local grocery store has them, not sure if Wal-Mart does or not...I will be checking though.

We do have the rechargeable batteries. We put in a well to water the yard and garden areas. Wish it was worth using on other stuff. Trying to think what else so far...I did get some bins to put things in and I am feeling pretty good about doing this.

Thanks again everyone!

Thanks JAXJOB but we aren't on septic.

Gary - I didn't figure you were, since you'd be awesome at water conservation if you are! That's usually the motivation for more water recycling. I only know about this stuff because we were at one time looking into unserviced acreage when we lived up north. Usually if you're connected to town water and sewer, there's less incentive. You can do all these things in town, but it's usually prohibitively expensive.

That said, recycling or using less is always good - yes!

Jax

I agree JAXJOB!

I bought a couple of those shopping bags yesterday and took them on my errands this morning. It felt pretty good to say ... no bag thanks, I'll use this.