Nearly everyone I know is a committed recycler, carefully separating glass, paper, plastic, and metal from the trash. Yet a recent conversation with friends revealed lots of different opinions about, well, almost everything. It turns out to be a very complicated subject.
A visit to the Waste Management website and follow-up emails taught me a lot about what should and should not be put into our recycling bins. And the thing is, items that shouldn't be there can cause serious problems. So, in the interest of providing a public service and perhaps ending the heated debates that take place in households everywhere, I am going to offer a quick overview of what I learned:
· Everything you recycle should be scraped free of food.
· You can recycle magazines, newspapers, cereal boxes, junk mail, juice cartons (with the cap screwed on), pizza boxes, and paperboard.
· You can recycle plastic jugs, bottles, and tubs. Ignore the numbers; let shape be your guide.
· You can recycle tin, steel, and aluminum cans with the paper still attached. Foil without food waste is ?ne.
· You can recycle glass bottles and jars, but never broken glass.
So what shouldn't go into the bin?
· No loose shredded paper, paper towels, napkins, paper cups, and candy wrappers.
· No styrofoam, food waste, clothing, ceramics, paint cans, batteries, plastic wrap, plastic shopping bags, net bags, food trays, to-go containers, aerosol cans, plastic eating utensils, and straws.
There's lots more information about all this on the Waste Management website.
Recycling is a way we can all make a difference. But doing it right makes a much bigger difference.
I'm Deborah Booth, and that's my perspective.
