Patricia Jonas
7/25/2022 9:48 AM
As with many complex issues, “recycling” is a very big word that doesn’t always mean what you think it does. To a household trying to do the right think, anything with a triangle might go in the bin. But then you look in the center (the resin code) and then compare that to the chart from your recycling provider and find that only some of those items are accepted and the list can be long. And then there is the list of things that can be accepted curbside and those (like rigid plastics - coolers, water bottles, totes, flower pots) that must be taken to a Citizen Drop Off Center.
The drop off centers in one community offer electronics recycling but a neighboring municipality encourages their citizens to donate used but functional electronics to charitable organizations. And it was the first group that I found that offered a list of local retailers that will accept plastic bags and film. And they have a YouTube video called “Tangled Up” which is meant to educate and entertain people about why things like plastic bags, clothing, linen, rope, electrical cords and chains will harm the recycling facility equipment and potentially harm the workers.
I currently have a pretty small recyclable footprint but the challenge is always inspecting your items, separating your items, and storing your recycling until time to put it in the community dumpster. And then there is my frustration when I see others have put plastic bags in the dumpster which means the entire effort is going to go to waste since the haulers will now take the entire dumpster to the landfill because it is contaminated by the plastic bags.
The drop off centers in one community offer electronics recycling but a neighboring municipality encourages their citizens to donate used but functional electronics to charitable organizations. And it was the first group that I found that offered a list of local retailers that will accept plastic bags and film. And they have a YouTube video called “Tangled Up” which is meant to educate and entertain people about why things like plastic bags, clothing, linen, rope, electrical cords and chains will harm the recycling facility equipment and potentially harm the workers.
I currently have a pretty small recyclable footprint but the challenge is always inspecting your items, separating your items, and storing your recycling until time to put it in the community dumpster. And then there is my frustration when I see others have put plastic bags in the dumpster which means the entire effort is going to go to waste since the haulers will now take the entire dumpster to the landfill because it is contaminated by the plastic bags.
