I see it as a Maxis oversight lol. Just like how a sim can drop a potty pouch and it turns into soda cans (what are they feeding that baby?).

Here we recycle certain plastics, clean cardboard, paper.



Compost can also include cardboard and paper, like brown paper bags and cardboard without sticky labels or lots of ink.

I do both of the above in rl.



They are not being wasted, I am turning them into compost. That means they are replacing a bag of fertilizer on that same garden spot. The bag costs $10 the compost is free. The main economy is selling crafted/grown/dug up items to townies. A few tress wouldn't cut it for the farm. They need every bit of compost I can get. The households who are not farms also compost and I have the farms pay them for a full compost bin. In a large hood yes they would have plenty but not in smaller hoods. So even if I switch over to my uber hood that has other ways of getting food I still like to compost. In my current hood I only have 1 main farm and they are constantly running out of compost.

This rural community has one large farm and fish as it's main source of food. (apart from the few Jackie sims food making items I installed recently that I try not to overuse) No grocery delivery, no fast food delivery, fridges come empty due to a mod I have and no restockable food bins.

Whether it's being used as compost for your own garden, or as organic waste (for compost or similar purposes, I presume) for bin day, it's still recycling. If both ways are meant to turn into compost, using it as compost at home is just a few steps removed. Not everyone has the option or need to to do compost at home, so having a pickup option is quite useful.

We've got organic waste (+ paper, glass/metal, plastic, and *whatever doesn't fit elsewhere*) for bin days. Some stores have collection places for small electronic waste and batteries, there's systems for returning plastic bottles and old clothes, and there's probably more I can't think of.

I'll rephrase it then lol. Sticking your dishes in the bin seems terribly wasteful to me, because I can't suspend disbelief enough to imagine that they could possibly be used as compost, therefore I consider them going straight to landfill (and the sims would also have to buy new dishes). Even farmers don't put their ceramic plates into the compost. XD



I have no idea what they actually do with the organic waste. I'm just presuming compost. But it isn't considered recycling. We do have a garden at home, but dad purchases fertiliser if he needs it (and I miss her terribly, but I don't miss having a dog that would eat all the sheep pellets he put down and then inflict her stenchful breath on us XD).

Half the plastic stuff isn't even recyclable anymore. We have yoghurts where the container is recyclable, but the lid isn't, which seems silly.

Here they're constantly trying out new variations of non-plastic spoons and straws for yoghurts and small juices. Some work, others just don't. Not even sure they're easier (or possible?) to recycle.

Composting is a natural form of recycling organic matter (Not sure what they're doing with the organic waste recycling, but I think some of it goes to produce biogases/heating or similar. If it can be composted it's probably just as useful in a compost bin for garden use. Throwing it in with the non-recyclables probably means it would have ended up on a landfill).

Similar here. Though, we have councils here that charge tax for various things, one of those things are waste disposal (all types, recycling included).

The council then charge an additional fee if you wish to use the green bin (garden waste). E.g, if they collect it from you, you pay extra.

So guess what happens?

No one uses it. And everyone burns it in their gardens. Most people take issue with "I'm already paying for that with my tax payments, why do I need to pay again?" kind of attitude.

It doesn't help waste collection for the other bins is only once every 2-3 weeks (It's supposed to be 2, but some weeks get missed where the bin lorries simply don't show up. )

One thing that has impressed me since we stopped using plastic bags, and are trying to cut back on other plastic use as well, is that McDonalds and KFC have stepped up to provide cardboard straws and wooden spoons instead of plastic.



We get charged extra for garden waste too. I thought that we used to have a composter, but thinking back it was actually an incinerator (not even sure that those are legal anymore).

The cooker needs to be between 2 counters and so does the sink. Neither can be next to each other and neither can be on "the edge" on their own. Like what if my sim elblows themselves against the wall or gets stuff on the wrong side??

They use paper plates.

It goes into the kitchen bin. That bin is magical, because once it goes in there it transforms everything into something that can be composted.
The sims take out of that bin compost ready waste and put it in the compost bin outside. The fact if they drop it and it somehow turns into a pile including cans is... unfortunate. But never fear! Sims also have magical transforming abilities as they only have to pick up that pile of rubbish and it is once again compostable material.

In RL most of us who compost have some kind of container in the kitchen to put things in before it goes outside. You can use a bought compost bin, a made bin or heap or just dig holes and bury and hope your dog doesn't dig it up. *Looks at dogs*

Cardboard straws are not all they pretend to be. Some use some nasty chemicals to get them to hold that shape and when they get soggy, like sitting in a drink, they can leech those chemicals. I always pull out a cardboard straw as you never know.
https://theconversation.com/eco-fri...wildlife-212472

[QUOTE=Charity]One thing that has impressed me since we stopped using plastic bags, and are trying to cut back on other plastic use as well, is that McDonalds and KFC have stepped up to provide cardboard straws and wooden spoons instead of plastic./QUOTE]

As a disabled person, those cardboard straws are a bloody choking hazard.

Don't use paper straws .. they're not as good as they're toted to be. Google for yourself.. but here's a bit of info
paper straws can be bad for your health because they can contain harmful chemicals and may not be better for the environment than plastic straws:

Chemicals
A study found that 18 out of 20 brands of paper straws contained PFAS, or "forever chemicals". PFAS are synthetic chemicals that are used to make many products resistant to water, heat, and stains. They break down very slowly and can persist in the environment for thousands of years. PFAS have been linked to a number of health problems, including thyroid disease, liver damage, and kidney cancer.

Environmental impact
Paper straws can have a negative impact on the environment in several ways:

Land use: The trees used to make paper straws require a lot of land.

Rotting in landfills: Paper straws emit more greenhouse gases when they rot in landfills than plastic straws.

They're not particularly good for hospital/care home use, either. They can work if you're able to drink up fast, but often in those places, or with disabilities where a straw makes it easier to drink, straws need to last for longer than 10 minutes. Paper straws go soggy much too fast, and just aren't capable of handling the job.



Not offering straws unless asked for, and being able to use some sort of "coffee-lid" (with a drinking spout) for soda instead of straw-lids could probably help a bit on reducing trash.

Wooden spoons, depending on type, are kinda awful, too. Some of them taste wooden, and others are too flat or weirdly shaped to be of any use... I've seen a cardboard spoon I actually did like in a yoghurt box (it was the perfect shape to scrape the sides, and it didn't go soggy in the time it took to eat), and some bamboo ones that weren't half bad.

Well, I don't let my sims use paper plates lol. They can wash their plates like usual and if they want compost then they can get it from other sources.

There's no other option now. You have to take the cardboard straws etc. They don't have plastic ones anymore.

Ok ... we have gone WAAAY OT .. (for which I acknowledge was very much apart of) .. the OP of the thread was askin about the rules each person plays with .. no one has to to follow anothers rules .. if it's one you don't use .. then so be it.. but there's no reason to say that someone else can't or shouldn't do what they like .. that is part of why we all love this game.. the sandbox that allows us to play our own way

soo.. please lets leave off this recycle talk and get back OT

You can buy metal and silicon reusable straws. You can also buy plastic... But if you are using cardboard ones, don't let them sit and go soggy.

On the plates, I am pretending they are paper. Of course you wouldn't compost china, you wouldn't compost nappies or plastic baby bottles either, yet those are also compostable in the sims world.

Another convention* in my game is that, if I create a child or teen in CAS, I'll use all the available sliders to tweak their facial appearance to just what I want. But, if I create two adults in CAS, and then use the CAS "pacifier" tool to give them genetic progeny (teen or child, rarely toddler), I consider that however they look is their natural inherited look, and I won't change it. Of course I'll happily change their clothes, and give them glasses and accessories to wear. I'll even change their hairstyle, but not their hair colour (unless I think it's dyed). The only slider I might tweak slightly is to turn up the corners of their mouth to give them a bit of a smile. Because I like my Sims to look as happy as I'm sure they feel. However, if I give the parents happy smiling faces, their children usually inherent their cheerful demeanour anyway.

Note: * Not a "rule" because my Sims don't like rules!

Everytime there's a party on a community lot it has to be paid for. Usually 500 simoleons

IRL, washing dishes is more eco-friendly than using disposable plates, even if you're composting, because a lot of energy goes into creating more paper plates. I was friends with someone whose job is eco-efficiency for a uni science lab, so I've learned all sorts of random things from her. She even uses cloth napkins at home instead of paper ones.

For sims, in addition to trees, cat litter and baby bottles are abundant resources for composting.

Weird Rules:

-No one is allowed to inherit their parents' house (with a few exceptions). The sims can't move back into their parents' house and inherit the house and all belongings. Sometimes they move back in after uni, move out with a bunch of money from the household funds and get a bigger head-start. Sometimes the parents move back in with the kids when they're elderly or give them a bunch of furniture when they're moving into the retirement home. In past hoods, I had too many families with enormous net worths from multiple generations just staying in that one house, which is obviously the biggest expense in the game. Also it creates pretty static hoods with limited housing, so I want to keep it flexible.
Exceptions: I have a few big expensive houses that are so decorated that I'm too lazy to move everything into inventory, so the oldest son gets to inherit. But they're already rich, so the inheritance is a moot point. Also anyone who lives in an apartment is an exception, since the household funds is all they have.

-Subhood schools and school friends. Children and teens in each subhood go to a different school. Not literally, it's not an institution school or anything, I just track it. This is harder to explain, but basically, on my spreadsheet, everyone is listed in birth order. I have a "window" around each sim of 20 sims older and 20 sims younger). I try to get them to be friends with everyone in their subhood who is in that window as their "class" at school. Sims who go to private school make friends with other private school friends regardless of subhood.
So my sim kids have unique friend groups by the time they're teens based on who they've grown up going to school with. Also they have cousins, family friends, neighbors, shared activities like ballet class or soccer teams, etc. It sounds complicated, it's not in practice It just gives me a way to narrow down my sims' friend options from "the entire hood" to "Here are sims my sim would actually be likely to interact with."

I don't have many rules; I prefer to follow the flow of the game. Some of those that I do have (no resurrection, no supernaturals) have already been mentioned. Others mostly pertain to Sims' love life. Every new Sim flirts with members of each sex at the beginning and the result (preferably three bolts) determines their orientation. Two bolts is the minimum for them to start living together (they always try to find a three-bolts partner but some just can't). If one (preferably both) of the partners wants to get married, they get married; same for becoming a parent. - There are many nuances but they would take too long to explain.

I used to have other rules, mostly financial (no Humble PC, etc.), but I gave up on those: there is no way to prevent your Sims from being at least well off in the first generation and seriously rich in the second. By now I don't really care about that aspect anymore, so I think that's about it.

You should talk to AndrewGloria. Very few of his sims get rich.

I used to have more rules, but I've decided to abandon a lot of "realism" because it can add too many annoyances to playing. I no longer care how much money (or how little) my Sims have either. If I think they deserve more, I just cheat it. If I see them as poor, I ignore their cash reserves and restrict their furnishings, house, etc. Also, the kinds of houses I want my Sims to live in cost more than the standard 20K handout, even if the house is not really a very nice or up-scale one. And I want everyone to have a decent bedroom, for goshsakes!

Other realism rules I've abandoned--my Sims now just walk everywhere. I don't care about distances. They walk downtown. I can't be bothered with the taxi anymore. I do like to give them cars if I can, just because it helps with going on dates and going to work. I also put random Sims in the same house because I don't like to play single-Sim households, although I will in a few cases. I don't care if it doesn't make sense. They're renting out an extra room or something. And I don't bother trying to sync up ages too much. It causes way too many headaches when playing university, for instance.

Weird rules for going to college: If they roll a career-related LTW, they will go to college unless they flunk out of high school for some reason. If they don't have a career-related LTW, they will go to college if they get the want to go within 3 days of becoming an adult. They will also go to college if they get the want to earn a scholarship and then earn it. If they go to college and don't have a career-related LTW, they will reroll their aspiration junior year. Why do I do this? Mainly because I prefer to play Sims with career goals, although with the way I play, very few of them still achieve their LTW. Also, if they reach elderhood and their LTW is impossible to achieve, then they will use the reward aspiration-changer thingie to change their aspiration again, and maybe they will get grilled cheese.