Memphis Apartments

Whether your Memphis apartment is in the city of Memphis or a small rural town on the outskirts, you have a major issue with recycling - where to store the stuff. There are some ways to deal with your desire to be “earth friendly” while avoiding the trap of having all your recyclables taking up the lion’s share of your Memphis apartment. Take a look at some of our recycling tips for Memphis apartment dwellers.

Squish it, mash it, make it small! There’s nothing that says your aluminum can or plastic bottle has to be in it’s original shape for recycling. Plastic bottles are easy - step on it. You might want to put down a cheap rug for this purpose so that you don’t damage your flooring and taking a minute to rinse the can or bottle will help eliminate spills so that you‘re not constantly cleaning the floors. Aluminum cans can be very rough on floors so you should really make certain you aren’t causing any damage before you use this technique on your cans. But there is an alternative. Most hardware stores have can compactors. These are small and are mounted on the wall and typically sell for ten dollars or less. The result is that the can will be no more than a couple of inches tall when you’ve smashed it using this device. With this option, dozens of cans can be saved in a single plastic grocery bag, meaning you’re not turning over a large space for storing them until it’s time to recycle.

Look for a recycle center. Most cities have a recycle center of some sort and you may find that some offer free pickup. Depending on the nature of the center and their mission, you may even find they offer some specific services - such as free paper shredding for your sensitive documents. Rather than incinerating all those credit card offers, you may be able to put them to a good use. If you plan to use this service, ask for references and take time to look over the process to reassure yourself that it’s a good idea. If you’re not comfortable, you may want to do the shredding yourself and simply hand over the shreds instead. With the advances in identity thefts, be certain that you do all you can to keep your important records and numbers safe, even at the expense of a few pieces of paper not being recycled.

If you do find a recycle center, find out what they accept. You may find a place to drop off not only your newspaper, you may also find out that they’ll accept your broken computer equipment and electronics. In many cases, these centers offer free pickup and may even pay for all or some of your recyclables.

Sometimes civic groups recycle as part of their community project or may collect recyclables as part of a fundraiser. The chamber of commerce may have a list of those. If you make donations to those groups, they may have a place where you can regularly drop your items so that there’s no need to let them pile up at your Memphis apartment, or you may find they are willing to make pickups. If you don’t find a group of this kind, ask around your Memphis apartment building. There may be kids who are willing to haul off your recyclables on a regular basis for a small fee or even simply for what the local recycling center pays.

You should also check with your city. Many offer free pickup of specific items for recycling but there are typically stringent rules in place. If that’s the case, the city may provide containers for those items with instructions of what day they should be outside your Memphis apartment - sometimes with the requirement that they be on the curb.

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