Recycling just got SO much easier for this small town girl.  Previously, we would have needed to have sorting bins large enough to collect a LOT of recycling, to make it worth our while, since we have to drive 30 miles to the nearest recycling center.  We’ve just never been able to do it.  It didn’t make sense to spend the gas money, unless we were going into the city, and we could take large quantities at one time.  Having the storage space to keep that much recycling was a problem.  I had actually given up on the idea and just started trying to cut back on buying things that would create too much trash.  I started washing out glass jars and plastic containers and using them for other things, but seriously–you only need so many plastic containers.  And again, we were running into the storage issue.

Rubbermaid Hidden Recycler hanging inside my kitchen cabinet.

But then, we got the greatest news, the other day.  Our local garbage companies are getting some new competition and the new company is affiliated with Recycle Bank.  Not only will this company pick up our garbage and provide a giant wheeled canister, but they will provide a large recycling canister and pick up both for LESS than we are currently paying for just garbage pickup!  Woohoo!  I LOVE competition in a free market society.    Anyway, now we have an easy option for recycling and on top of it, the recycling we send with them, can earn us money!

All the recycling goes into the one canister.  Nothing needs to be sorted.  Labels don’t have to be removed.  They take care of all that at the recycling center.  When we set out the recycling, it’s picked up, weighed and taken away for us and we earn points toward gift cards from Walmart, Old Navy, Home Depot or Best Buy.  The program is called Recycle Bank and there are tons of reward options available.  The gift cards are just a very practical choice for us.  So, I’m definitely making the switch to this new company.

The only thing I was concerned about was that I didn’t want to have two garbage cans sitting out in my kitchen – one for trash, one for recycling, but I still needed a practical way to collect recyclable materials throughout the day.  It didn’t make sense to run to the garage with each little piece.  No worries!  Rubbermaid has solved that problem for me.  They have designed the Rubbermaid Hidden Recycler.  It hangs on the inside of the cabinet door, underneath your kitchen sink.  Collect a day (or two’s) worth of recyclables and then lift out the tote with it’s convenient carry handle and take it to the garage to empty it into the recycling canister.  Yes!  I love this idea!

Some Assembly Required. Actually, it was so easy to put together that I had it together and in the cabinet in just minutes.

I opened up the Rubbermaid Hidden Recycler package and had it assembled and hanging inside my cabinet in less than five minutes.  It’s that easy!  The over the door hooks included in the package are padded with rubber inside, so you won’t scratch up your cabinets.  I love that kind of attention to detail!  Because of the style of cabinet doors I have, I think I WILL go ahead and use a couple of wood screws to just mount the recycler to the inside of the door, though.  You can see that the thickness of the door because of the routed detail, makes the hangers a little too thick for the door to close completely.  It’s not a HUGE deal, but since the option was prepared for by Rubbermaid, I will definitely take the simple steps to do it.

This is that gap I was talking about, from using the over-the-door hangers that were included. The picture below, is an example of a Hidden Recycler mounted directly to the cabinet door with wood screws.

Photo Credit: www.rubbermaid.com - This Hidden Recycler is screwed to the inside of the cabinet door so the over-the-door hangers are not necessary.

The Rubbermaid Hidden Recycler has some great features for busy women who want to be good stewards, without adding extra chores to their routines!

1. Easy attachment to a cabinet door with hooks included with the product or screws ( You will need to provide your own screws.)
2. A convenient handle allows the bag to easily be transported to wherever your recycling is stored for pick-up or transport.  I love how easy the handle makes it to just grab the bag and lift it off the frame to carry it away.
3.  A 5 gallon bag that holds up to 36 12-ounce cans and can fit a milk jug.  Perfect for our large family and busy household!
4.  The bag has a leak-proof liner and is machine washable to make it easy to clean after any unexpected spills.  This is really ingenious!  It’s a soft-sided bag, but you won’t have any leaky messes to clean up, and machine washable is an absolute necessity.
5.  The bag is soft-sided allowing for flexibility inside any cabinet.  I like that this feature also allows odd shaped items to fit without a problem.
6. The bag and all packaging is made from recyclable material, and the product is recyclable.  Score!  Seriously, what could be better?
7. The bag also has a hinged lid to keep everything contained.

Rubbermaid always has just the product I need to get life more organized and tidy.  The Hidden Recycler is one more great example.  You can buy the Hidden Recycler online at Rubbermaid or at a Meijer store, if there’s one in your area.  For only $15.99, this is a kitchen tool that will pay for itself many times over, in its lifetime.

One lucky Busy-at-Home reader will win a Hidden Recycler for their own kitchen!  For the mandatory entry, just visit Rubbermaid and find a product you’d like to try.  Tell me the name of the product you like in a comment on this post.  Then use the Rafflecopter form, below, to submit all your entries!  You must be 18 or older and reside in the U.S. to enter.  Good luck!

I received a Rubbermaid Hidden Recycler in order to test it in my own kitchen.  No monetary compensation was received and a positive review was not required.  As with all Busy-at-Home reviews, the views and opinions expressed are wholly my own and based on my personal experience with the product.

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