Homes
Source Reduction and Consumer Spending
Do you recycle at home? Do you know what can be recycled in your town? Many people love Montana’s wide open spaces and the
small town atmosphere that exists even in our larger cities. Montanans appreciate the lack of crowds, rush hour traffic, and
industrial smoke stacks found in more populated and more industrialized areas of the U.S.
What does this have to do with recycling? Well, the same things that make Montana the special and uniquely beautiful place that it is, also make full-scale and wide-spread recycling difficult. Because of Montana’s low population and the fact that major industrial centers are long distances away, collecting recyclables and shipping them to markets in other states, can make recycling programs expensive to implement and maintain. These challenges can be addressed and many communities in Montana offer recycling programs for some commodities, such as aluminum cans, bi-metal cans, newspaper, cardboard, and magazines.
Even communities without an organized recycling program often have some outlets for recycling certain commodities, to find out what can be recycled in your town, DEQ suggests:
- contact your local public works department.
- visit the Earth911.org website. Just type in your zip code to find recycling
locations and learn what and where to recycle near you. If there is no local recycling, the site lists the nearest recycling
centers.
- visit the Recycle Montana website. This organization maintains a website listing locations across Montana that accept certain materials for recycling.
- visit the Headwaters Recycling Cooperative website. This organization also maintains a website listing drop-off locations within the communities that are part of the Cooperative.
Recycling is just one way to reduce the amount of trash you throw away.
Source Reduction means taking steps to reduce the amount of trash you generate in the first place. Consider using the following strategies to generate less trash:
- Buy in bulk.
- Buy only what you need.
- Stop Junk Mail.
- Choose recyclable packaging. (E.g. Are aluminum cans recyclable in your town? Are plastic bottles? Buy soda in cans instead of plastic bottles if plastic recycling is not available.)
- Learn more about source reduction at the EPA website.
