I just found this list of reasons to recycle and thought you all might enjoy reading it, too. Lynn *If not recycled, one quart of used motor oil could pollute 250,000 gallons of drinking water. �Recycling one ton of old paper saves, 7,000 gallons of water or, put another way, every ton of recycled paper requires 7,000 fewer gallons of water to manufacture than virgin paper. �Every ton of recycled paper requires 4100 KWH less energy than virgin paper to produce. � Recycling saves energy and reduces air pollution as well as greenhouse gas emissions. � Half of all polyester carpet made in the United States is made from recycled plastic (PET) � Recycling the steel from six cars can provide enough steel framing for an entire new house. � Recycling one glass bottle saves enough electricity to light a 60-watt bulb for four hours. � Aluminum cans produced in the United States can contain at least 50 percent recycled content. � Americans represent only five percent of the world's population, but generate 30 percent of the world's garbage. � Forty percent of all U.S. municipal solid waste consists of paper and paperboard products. � Each ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees. � Each ton of recycled paper saves over 3 cubic yards of landfill space. � The estimated 272 billion aluminum cans reclaimed during the 1980s saved 2 billion feet of landfill space. � Recycling reduces taxes and landfill fees. � Making paper from recycled materials results in 74% less air pollution and 35% less water pollution than virgin paper. � Manufacturing with aluminum scrap saves an estimated 95% in energy costs. � Manufacturing with copper scrap saves an estimated 85% in energy costs. � Ninety-nine percent of all beer cans and 97 percent of all soda cans are made of aluminum. American consumers and industry throw away enough aluminum to rebuild the entire United States commercial air fleet every three months. � Recycling generates jobs and revenue.

elizawhyza, you ask an important question about working with a contractor in putting in a largely recycled kitchen. Many people who artfully incorporate old things into their homes are seasoned DIY'ers, but I needed grown ups to get things in properly. My contractor is not a firm. He is a recovering economist who has an affinity for old houses and likes to see them respected. His own skills are excellent, and he puts together work crews for each job he undertakes, whether it's a bathroom or a whole house. I cannot imagine taking on this house with a different kind of contracting firm. Indeed, he looked at all the houses I was considering and outline what work would be entailed in for each of them. I have worked with him on several less extensive projects over the years, and I consider the trade-offs -- basically I had to start with a very rough ballpark estimate of what his work would cost and I was responsible for contracting with the electrical, HVAC, window, and floor people, but I knew that I would get careful work on the house -- more than reasonable. By the time we got to the kitchen, he and his crew has turned this into this which entailed jacking up the roof, replicating a lost corbel, and patching the original cypress clapboards with newly milled ones. In that context, shimming the kitchen cabinets vertically as well as laterally was not a big deal. On your other question, I bought the cabinets from my local craigslist, after checking out what was available almost daily for several months. I talked to the owner, drove out to look at the cabinets, paid him for them, and then hired three guys and a truck to pick them up and bring them into the city. The distance was about 15 miles and the moving cost a couple hundred dollars. There are also a couple of local non-profit house part recycling places that occasionally have nice cabinets, but that works best if you are in a position to check them daily, which I am not. The non-local sources for good used cabinets are ebay (which tends to have kitchen center displays that are listed for "local pick-up") and and Green Demolitions. The latter carries some very up-market used kitchen from the NYC area. They will email you all kinds of pictures to show the condition of what you might be buying, and they can help customers arrange shipping. I have never actually purchased from them, but I would certainly consider it. I look forward to seeing your cabinets. Best of luck with the whole project. hbk Here is a link that might be useful: Green Demolitions.

I do think that is a really cool recycling set up. As far as compost, after trying different methods for 30 years, I like this pivot out waste container the best. I used an old stainless stockpot on our counter for years and years then graduated to Norpro with filter (I loved the filter) and then to this. The lid lifts off when the door is swung open so there is no lid to deal with and to put down on the counter (my lids got pretty yucky at times.) I can usually get the door open with my pinky when my hands are gunky or are full of scraps. The weight of the pail is not on the door--the pail is supported by a bracket screwed into the cabinet itself. This one if made by Rev a Shelf. I don't find any problem with the plastic liner pail--no odor is retained as far as I can tell. There is no filter but the lid seems to keep the odors contained. I wouldn't want an in-counter system. It's too permanent. What if you decide to switch to something else (i.e. worms or whatever else is coming down the road)? A business friend put this type of system in 25 years ago and stopped using it after a couple of years (not because she stopped composting--she was an avid composter and gardener) and was stuck with the hole in her counter.

go_figure, thank you! Yesterday was Family Dinner Sunday, and I'm happy to report that the kitchen center worked as expected. We rolled it into the LR to set up tables for dinner, then rolled it back to the play room, later. It was a hit, not only with my grandson, but also with my 8yr old niece and nephew. I offered to make one for them if my brother can find another old entertainment center. He declined, lol. EATREALFOOD, thank you! Today my grandson played 'restaurant'--the menu was: 2 frozen pies, spaghetti and meatballs, and a sandwich. My FIL is in his 80s, retired USAF, a very traditional gentleman. When he stopped by one day, I was excited to show him the almost finished project. I said, "Look at the kitchen center I'm making for K's birthday!" His response was, "Hmmmmmm." I couldn't understand why he wasn't more impressed until I said, "And look on the other side--it's a workshop." Then he was impressed ;).