Best Carts and Organizers for Curbside Recycling Bins

Recycling Bin Basics

There are several different ways to get recycling bins. The easiest way is to get them from your city’s recycling program. Typically, these large plastic recycling bins are completely free for your use. If you prefer or if your city doesn’t have a recycling program, you can purchase your own recycling bins. Recycling bins come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Some are stackable and some work well with recycling bin organizers such as carts and wall brackets. Whatever you choose, it’s important to make sure that you have enough recycling bins for your needs. Figure out how much you tend to recycle each week, and decide whether you want to use a separate bin for each type of recyclable item or mix recyclables together. Check with your city to find out what recyclables they will take at the curb. You will need to organize items that the city won’t pick up in separate recycling bins.

Organizing Curbside Recycling Bins

The curbside recycling bins that most cities provide are ugly and inconvenient. You can’t use them easily if you try to stack them. Spreading them out across the floor results in the recycling bins taking up too much space. However, it can be difficult to find carts or organizers that are made specifically for these bins. Many recycling bin organizers that are available on the market are outrageously expensive because they come with their own bins. There’s no point in investing in recycling bins when you can get them for free. If you know where to look, you can find excellent racks, caddies and carts for your curbside bins.

Best Recycling Bin Carts

The best recycling bin carts are typically designed for the standard bins provided by your city. They will stack two or three bins neatly and have wheels that make transporting the recyclables to the curb much easier. Gaiam.com has an excellent recycling bin cart that is designed for curbside bins. If you like, you can buy between one and three recycling bins with the cart. You can also save money by buying the cart without the bins. There is also an excellent recycling bin cart offered by Ace Hardware on Amazon.com. You can also get the Recycle Caddy, a cart which comes in two different size models. You can view the measurements on the RecycleCaddy.com website to ensure that the caddy will fit the recycling bins that your city provides.

Do-It-Yourself Recycle Bin Organizers

Since there are so few products for organizing your recycling bins, you may have to take matters into your own hands. There are recycling bin wall brackets that you can install to keep your bins organized and out of the way. However, if you want a rack, cabinet or shelf for storing your recycling bins in the garage, you may have to improvise or build it yourself. Measure your recycling bins on all three dimensions and check your local hardware or discount store for organization solutions that might work. Also look for the raw materials to build storage racks, shelves or cabinets. There are plenty of tutorials online that give simple step-by-step instructions on how to build these organizers easily.

Tips for Organizing Your Recyclables

Check online shopping comparison sites for containers for organizing and sorting your recyclables inside the house. There are many attractive recycling bin organizers made from wood, metal, plastic and cloth. Ordinary garbage cans also work well as recycling organizers. Or, if you prefer, make your own indoor recycling organizers. For best results, sort aluminum, plastic, paper, cardboard, glass and tin in separate containers. Keep these recycling storage containers hidden under the sink in the kitchen and bathroom, in a rotating storage shelf, in a cabinet or in the laundry room. When these recycling organizers become full, take their contents out to the recycling bins in the garage. Using these organizers and following these sorting tips will help you to simplify your recycling and eliminate the mess.

Ways to Reuse Your Recyclables

You don’t have to take your recyclables out to the curb. You can also use them for a variety of purposes around your home. If you plan to reuse your recyclables, be sure to create a separate recycling bin or recycling station for those items. Recyclables are very useful in art projects as well as in craft projects. Clothing is another useful recyclable material which many people don’t think of reusing. For example, you can recycle old clothing for use as cleaning cloths and in craft projects. For more information about reusing and recycling items around your home, read How to Reuse and Recycle Plastic Bags and How to Recycle and Reuse Cardboard.