by Shelbe Stewart

Created on: March 08, 2009   Last Updated: May 13, 2009

A guide to recycling in Memphis , TN.

Start by recycling in the home. A recycle container will be brought to your residence with one quick call to your waste company. Stock pile, and tie all old newspapers, and out dated telephone books, then place in the recycle tub and sit it at the curb on trash pick-up day.

Since plastic takes years and years to dissolve into the earth, it is very important to recycle these items. Rinse out all plastic containers, this keeps your recycle container free of ants and other crawlies.

Having an old pick-up truck and riding around your neighborhood recycling items such as : old washers, dryers, stoves, and refrigerators, that has been sit out at the curb, also any scrap metals, helps too. Recycle plants pay good, honest money for old scrap metal.

In the North Memphis area is one of the largest recycling centers. There are three, maybe five, huge sections to this recycle center. One section is for the recycling of aluminum soda cans. This can put some spare change in one's pockets too. Many people use gloves, and a stick to remove soda cans along the roads.

Another section takes all steel metal, such as washers, dryers, like that mentioned above. Payment for these recycled items are paid right after the weigh-in. There is also a section that recycles small motors, aluminum pieces, and copper pipes, and wiring. For a while here, there were people breaking into houses, and stealing the pipes and wiring. It got so bad that all wiring and copper piping had to be weighed- in and the money amount left there, and picked up in a week, or they could mail your money to you. That stopped a lot of criminal intent.

At one of the recycle centers there was a picture of a person laying sprawled out on the ground, after being electrocuted trying to steal wiring. Wasn't a pretty picture either!

Any way recycled items should be picked up only at the curb, unless someone wants you to haul away old useless appliance. There is no shame in doing work for an extra income that our ancestors did. Many times jobs have to be done to survive in times of famine, such as these, when history repeats itself, and we are reminded what we didn't do!

We should be ashamed of not recycling. Take a good look at the garbage dumps! They look like that, from throwing trash together, and not recycling and separating. Not only that, take a look at all the old car tires laying around, can they be recycled? Where are the recycling centers for tires?

Cardboard boxes can also be recycled. Many business don't recycle their boxes, and a person with a truck can get permission to haul the empty cardboard boxes away for them. This helps put cash in the pocket too, not to leave out the fact that all recycling helps to tame some of our global littering problems.

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