How To Recycle All That Plastic
Hi. My name is Laurel, and I love to recycle. I mean . . . I really do.
I’m not kidding. Not even a little bit.
I have cut out a diagram from our local waste management company and have it taped to the inside of one of our cupboards for easy reference. It shows what items you can put in the garbage, recycling, compost and glass bins. Did you know that if recycling items are contaminated with items that can not be recycled the buyers will refuse the bundles and they will then have to be disposed of? This is mostly because people tend to "wishful" recycle. As in, they see something that is plastic, and automatically think it can be recycled.
For instance, those plastic toppers that keep the 6-packs of beer together, well they can NOT go in the recycling bin. I have stacks on stacks on stacks of them, and need to to take them in to Ex Novo (one of my favorite brewery's and happens to be a non-profit brewery that donates 100% of their profits to those building a better world and bringing hope to places where it is scarce, and they’ll also recycle those plastic toppers for you!). If you don't live near an Ex Novo, you should check out PakTech's recycling drop-off locations site.
So, when I found out about How2Recycle, I literally jumped for joy! It all started because as I was going to go toss a soap pouch in the recycling bin, I thought twice about it because the material felt a little different to me. As I was reading the info on the back of the pouch, I noticed a website that was printed right next to the barcode.
I instantly looked it up, and my life has now forever changed! All that plastic that we can no longer put in our curbside recycle bins, now has a home! They get turned into new packaging or durable home products. Isn't that just the coolest?
Check out everything else you can recycle at the specified locations too!
Even though I try to purchase items with less packaging, somehow there’s still plastic in my house. Until there is a new solution to plastic, please take one extra step to make sure we’re putting the right items in the bins, so less will end up in the landfills.
