What do you do when you are sorting your recycling and you come across an item that you think maybe recycling, but you aren’t sure? Do you just throw it out? Do you just put it in the recycling bin?
Wish-cycling is when you decide to ask your recycling provider to make that decision.
How should you recycle?
Use the following recycling guide to know what you can put in your bin for me to pick up and what needs to go into the trash.
•Cardboard: boxes, egg cartons, toilet paper rolls
Make sure everything is clean and dry. Plasticated or waxed boxes or boxes with grease are not recyclable.
•Paper: Everything should be clean and dry and staples and plastic windows are okay. Please do not recycle books.
•Plastic: Thoroughly clean and dry items, flatten bottles and jugs, and put the caps on to save room.
•Metal Cans: All cans must be clean, empty, and dry. Aluminum foil balled up to larger than the size of your hand is okay. Scrap metal is not accepted.
•Glass: All items need to be clean and dry. Only jars and bottles. No panes of glass, pyrex, or ceramics.
What does not belong in your recycling bin?
•Plastic bags: These cannot be recycled at the recycling facility but can be dropped off at many grocery stores. This also goes for bagged recyclables. No bags, please!
•Clothes/textiles: Even though many clothing items contain plastic, they are not recycled at the recycling facility. They should be donated. All fabrics can be donated to organizations such as Goodwill where even rags can be used to make other items such as carpet and stuffing. Wearable items are welcomed at homeless shelters and rags and blankets are often well-received by animal shelters.
•Scrap metal: Scrap metal does not belong at the recycling facility. Many local scrap metal recyclers will accept and even pay you for scrap metal.
•Batteries: Batteries endanger workers and harm the environment. Look for local battery collection at landfills or visit earth911.com for drop-off locations.
•Anything smaller than the palm of your hand: These items fall through sorting equipment. Items such as single-use plastic straws and cutlery should be reused as much as possible and avoided if possible. When it is time for them to be disposed of they need to go to the garbage.
•Food/Liquid Waste: Items need to be clean. Items with food and drinks still in them are trash and also contaminate other items that could have been recycled. Compost as much as you can!
•Electronics: There are too many materials and components in electronics that can be harmful to workers and/or the environment. Donate items that still work, fix items that can be fixed, and take broken items to an e-recycling facility.
How to best ensure the recyclability of your items:
- Empty out your containers and clean them thouroughly.
- Place items directly in reciprocals. Bags are not accepted at the recycling facility.
- Size matters! Anything smaller than your palm or lont and narrow will slip through sorting equipment. These items are not recyclable! Caps are okay as long as they are on the container they came with.
- Remember that physics is a thing! Crush jugs and cans. Break down boxes.
- Reconsider your purchases to reduce your overall consumption and environmental impact.
- Re fill and reuse containers as much as you can.