Morfydd St. Clair wrote:
People do go through garbage cans to pick out containers for the deposit; I think of it as a mitzvah to leave those containers on the ground by the can for easier finding.
We do this as well, saving aluminum cans. Every so often someone with a hard-luck story will come through my neighborhood looking for money or food, they get the stash of beer cans, which they can sell and are generally thrilled.
I was amazed the last time I was in Europe (Italy) at how little plastic was in the food market when I went to do some shopping. Most everything I would get here in plastic was packaged in glass (and the glass recycling containers, emptied twice weekly, were always consistently overflowing). There were few cans and nearly no plastic packaging, it was lovely to see.
For some perspective: here in Brazil I live on the outskirts of a capital city known for its "green policies" (it's mostly just spin, but it's better than nothing).
We have recycling pickup twice a week curbside (trash pickup is thrice weekly). They will take any plastic with a recycling symbol, pulpable paper/cardboard, glass, tetrapaks and metal and even styrofoam. The tetrapak and styrofoam people have manufacturing plants here in the state and I think are required by law to accept their products back for some sort of reprocessing.
The waste is sorted by local co-ops, reprocessed or repurposed. I'd say most of my recycling is plastic and cardboard, as I save nearly all glass bottles for canning and other than that there's maybe the odd sardine can.
People collect and sell to scrapyards on their own though, and most days someone takes my bag of recyclables before the trash comes. This without the aforementioned aluminum cans that are worth more!
For hazardous waste or e-waste there are places to drop it, or a truck that is at every local city bus station on a certain day of the month.
For things like light bulbs, old paint or whatever that's a good option, but many large hardware/home stores also are required by law to take these things.
The best program though I think is a city outreach program where people who collect recyclables can exchange a certain amount for a delivery of vegetables purchased by the city from community gardens. it's like 1kg of recyclables for 5 kg veggies, i think, with distribution points in different neighborhoods once a week. For the poorest of the poor, this is a way to get some fresh food and also helps with a bit of roadside cleanup.
