Helpful Recycling Tips

Handy Tips and Ideas for Greener Living

• If you are filling your first bin each week and need more, great job! Bellaire residents can purchase additional recycling bins for $10 each in the Utility Billing Department in City Hall, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Monday - Friday. Fill those bins!
• Sign up to receive bills, statements and notices from banks, credit cards, catalogs and other businesses by email instead of paper notices in the mail. Call the company's 800 number to be removed from print mailing lists.
• Reuse plastic grocery bags as waste receptacle liners, lunch bags or use them again on your next trip to the store.
• Compost to transform your household garbage (food wastes, lawn clippings, coffee grounds, etc), into a rich earth-like material that can be added to a garden to help plants grow.
• Use coffee grounds as a plant fertilizer. Sprinkle the grounds around the base of the plant then dig them in a little. They can also be sprinkled directly on your lawn. A ring of coffee grounds around sensitive plants can discourage ants and some other pests.
• Add water to coffee grounds and allow to stand for a day or 2. Drain off and then use as a liquid plant fertilizer - cold coffee that you'd usually toss down the sink can also be used in this way.
• Add coffee grounds to compost piles to enrich nutrient content - the grounds contain Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium and Sulfur. Phosphorous is becoming scarce, so we need to conserve it as much as possible.
• Bring reusable bags and your own travel mug to the store with you.
• Buy in large quantities: Buy products with the least amount of packaging or none at all. Buy products packed in recycled packaging.
•  Determine if you really even need bottled water. City water is usually just as healthy, much cheaper and may even be safer than bottled water products.Bring your own metal water bottle from home.
• Reduce use of disposable items (plates, cups, razors, diapers, etc.). Avoid Styrofoam -although it is coded #6, it is not recyclable in Bellaire's curbside program.Styrofoam contains polystyrene, which is the most difficult material to break down in landfills and is considered a hazardous waste!
• Try using E-books, share books with friends or check out books from the Library rather than buying new ones. Also, the Friends of the Bellaire Library accept donations of used books throughout the year for the book sales it has during the year.
• Safeguard storm drains. Trash and lawn clippings tossed carelessly outside often wash into storm drains, which empty into rivers and streams that eventually flow to the oceans.Approximately 14 billion pounds of trash is dumped into the ocean every year! Pollution is a growing problem for all the Earth's ocean and its wildlife.
• Read labels for ingredients. Stay away from chemicals that harm our environment.Instead of ammonia and chlorine-based cleaners, use vinegar and water, salt, lemon juice or baking soda and water to clean.