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It’s not always easy to find places to recycle while living and traveling in an RV. Sometimes when you’re in a new area, Googling the name of the town and the word “recycling” doesn’t provide any results. Here are some tips to help you find recycling centers and help you stay eco-conscious no matter where you are.
If you’re having a difficult time finding a recycling center, try these steps:
- Google the name of your town/city to see what county it’s in.
- Then search for the county website.
- On the county website, look for any links about waste management if recycling doesn’t specifically show up.
- If you’re still not finding anything, look on the county website if there’s a phone number for a transfer station.
- Sometimes recycling isn’t handled by the county, but the municipality. In that case, look for recycling information on the city website instead of the county website.
- If that doesn’t work, call and ask the visitor center because they are usually a wealth of information.
- If the town doesn’t have a dedicated visitor center, try contacting the Chamber of Commerce.
- Can’t get through to the Chamber of Commerce? Then just ask some local establishments such as local grocery stores and the library. The landfill is also a good place to contact even though frequently recycling isn’t handled at the landfill. But they may be under the same management and able to provide a phone number.
If you have access to the Internet, these websites can be really useful in finding recycling centers:
- Recycle Finder: Try this one if you’re near any major cities and urban areas.
- I Want To Be Recycled: This site is better for recycling in smaller towns.
- A Bag’s Life: This website lists places that recycle plastic bags.
There are some locations other than recycling centers that also accept recyclables, including:
- Grocery stores: They usually have a recycling bin for plastic bags.
- Target: Most Target stores have a recycling bin for plastic bags and some have additional recycling bins for plastic, paper, and glass.
- Lowes: There are always several recycling bins at the entrance accepting plastic bags, batteries, light bulbs, and cell phones.
- National parks: A lot of national parks have recycling bins next to trash cans. Larger national parks seem to have a dedicated recycling area that accepts more types of recyclables.
- Independent shipping stores: These stores are great places to recycle air pillows and bubble wrap that come in packages. FedEx and UPS stores are restricted to use certain types of air pillows and bubble wrap and generally won’t accept what you bring in.
- Ikea: Ikea stores have a variety of recycling bins. (See also: The Best IKEA Furniture For Your RV)
With these tips, you can keep recycling even though you’re traveling from town to town. Do you have any other advice on how to recycle when you’re on the road? We’d love to hear your thoughts below.
