No Use for Recycle Bin

About a year ago we had a hard down pour for a few days. Somehow our recycle bin ended up floating away. We have never had it replaced.
A friend of mine urged me to get a new one. I think she may have been under the impression that I was no longer recycling. It's untrue. Actually, I've become better at recycling.
Any product that comes into my home in the form of cardboard gets new life as backing for my felt board pieces.
Any product that comes into my home in the form of a bottle is rendered into water storage (not water we drink, but can use in other ways).
We reuse the plastic bags from the store in a variety of ways...usually collecting trash (let's face it, some trash IS trash...and you don't want it hanging around in your home).
We don't get the newspaper, but the newspaper-like ads make great paper to create patterns from. And, the rest of the junk mail or paid bills end up going through the shredder and will eventually be added to a compost box....which, I'm still working on getting started so my neighbors don't have to smell the decomposing food too, but that's in the works.
And, for the felt board, I also rip off the velcro tags on my child's diapers and glue them on the back of the felt board pieces to adhere to the felt! (I tried the whole cloth diapering system, but my kids' bodies just haven't meshed too well with it...moisture MUST be wicked away to prevent diaper rash!!)
So, I may not be sending things off to be recycled at a plant, but I am doing my part to reduce the waste that comes from our home in the first place. We have NEVER had a full trashcan to be picked up every week, so reducing even more feels that much better.
Plus, we use A/C and heat in our home as little as possible (this year's goal: no A/C ever) and figure life carried on just as well in log cabins a hundred years ago, so we can do it w/our insulated modern home as well.
I may be a little late on Earth Day, but I've been doing it all along. Happy Earth Day to you!!