While recycling to the extreme that we see in the Pacific Northwest may not be possible in many parts of the United States, we feel “smarty parents” should teach children to do their part.

This can start with simply putting your soda can in a recycling bin. Or you can even go nuts like we did and set up bins (at right) for various plastic types and take them to a recycling facility or event.

One Company, One Family, One Bag of Trash per Week

We were shocked, literally, that a combination of recycling and composting enabled us to yield a single kitchen-sized trash bag of garbage per week. And that’s with a family of four (five if you count our canine!) plus all of the office and work-related paper in our house.

All this is to say, the planet belongs more to our children and our grandchildren than us. We can all do our part to “teach the children well.”