Dear Mr. Green,

I need the 411 on recycling. What goes in what can and when. For example, aluminum… I know I can put aluminum cans, foil from take out, but what about those little lids that peel off of your yogurt? They look like foil. And plastic – can I throw bread bags in with my other plastics? I would love to know a full list of everyday things that are recyclable but that we more often throw in the garbage can.

Thanks!

Teresa

Dear From Trash to Treasure,

You’ve just asked the $64,000 Question, but unfortunately, there is no easy answer. Recycling comes with a cost, buying new comes with a cost, not recycling comes with a cost, etc. There is no full list of what is and what is not recyclable because the codes vary according to where you live because not every town, city or state has the same technology in place to handle the massive task.

But now that recycling is in style, and newer and safer methods are being developed all the time from cradle-to-tomb (where the end life of a product is a down-cycle to a lesser grade material) as well as from cradle-to-cradle (where the end life of a material is pre-arranged to be up-cycled to something as good or even better), we all can be responsible for the natural resources we leave for future generations. (It just kinda’ makes sense!) It’s clear that it’s catching on, too. In the United States recycling rates rose from 7.7% in 1960 to the current 33% estimate.

More garbage is generated now than ever before. In fact, the average American tosses out about four and a half pounds of garbage daily. Recycling is one of the easiest ways you, as an individual, can help to slow climate change and global warming. By recycling at home, you can help to significantly lower carbon emissions associated with mining virgin materials, you keep useful materials out of landfills and additionally provide a valuable resource for many new products.

Every community has its own guidelines for what can and what should not be recycled. Find out your particular community’s codes by either calling or checking on-line for the guidelines offered by your local public works department or recycling center. By doing so, you’ll be certain that you’re doing it right for your particular location.

When you chose to recycle at home, sorting and preparing your recyclables is key. For instance, computers, catalogs, cell phones, glass bottles and jars, junk mail, magazines, milk jugs, newspapers, plastics (All plastics with numbers 1 through 7 are recyclable–it’s just up to your recycler as to whether or not they will accept them), plastic bags (Plastic bags from the supermarket, around dry cleaned clothes, bread bags, newspaper delivery plastic bags and even those from a new mattress are recyclable. Place them into the recycling bag receptacles you typically see outside of supermarkets), metal cans (Rinsing cans make them easier to process.), cereal boxes and other clean and dry cardboard boxes are all completely recyclable. Even though they’re not all part of your particular regular weekly curbside recycling program, special schedules, pick-up, and delivery may be available. So, again, check with your local guidelines for options offered to you. This may not be what you wanted to hear, but unfortunately it’s how recycling gets done in the US.

And although lots of things today are recyclable, it’s probably not a good idea to place plastic grocery bags, Styrofoam, light bulbs, food-soiled paper, wax paper or ceramics into your curbside recycling. Household hazardous wastes like paint cans, motor oil, antifreeze, car batteries, alkaline batteries, pesticides, pool chemicals, etc., usually need to be disposed of separately, too. Again, check your community resources and guidelines for their policies on recycling these items and materials.

The upside here is that the items you’ve recycled are then made into new products – recycling often uses less water and energy and creates less pollution than producing the same product from raw materials–but that’s not always the case either – for instance, sometimes virgin paper from sustainable forests is better environmentally than recycled papers – there is often a “lesser of two evils” choice to make when it comes to recycling. But in general, buying recycled goods (look for the words “post-consumer content” when purchasing) is yet another swell thing you can do for the environment.

To be uber-diligent – because glass is much more easily recycled than plastic, whenever possible, choose products packaged in glass containers so that when you’re done with them, you can easily toss them into your recycling bin. Additionally, when you’re purchasing items from a butcher, avoid plastic by getting your items freshly wrapped in paper.

There are lots of solutions to recycling but, unfortunately, when it comes to those cute little foil-like plastic peal-away lids on your yogurt containers…there isn’t a recycling answer. The real solution is to not purchase them until there are ways for them to have a second life. The dairy industry developed them because they were an alternative to the old plastic lids, which in most likelihood, would be recyclable by today’s standards. Go figure!

Ya’ – I know…it’s a tough re-cycled pill to swallow. But ultimately, it’s the good choices that we all make and the positive actions that we all take that will make the biggest difference.

about mr. green

From re-gifting, re-cycling, to natural cleaning products for your home, Mr. Green has all of your ecotiquette answers. Our Mr. Green (aka. Michael De Jong), is the author of “CLEAN: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing.” He lives in Jersey City with his partner (Richard,) dog (Jack,) and three goldfish (Phil, Jill and Gill) all of which benefit from his natural cleaning techniques. De Jong, who cleaned apartments in New York City while working as a fine artist, began researching and inventing many of the recipes in “CLEAN” and is continually experimenting with safe, effective and eco-friendly alternatives. Raised in the mid-West by an immigrant family that valued the environment and re-cycled before it was fashionable, his quest for non-toxic solutions comes naturally to him. He is currently writing a companion series of “CLEAN” books dealing with such topics as the body, first aid, organization, and food, as well as posting a weekly Blog on www.thedailygreen.com. “CLEAN: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing” can be purchased at Barnes & Noble stores across the country or on-line at www.barnesandnoble.com or www.amazon.com.

Click here to send him a question and he’ll put in the elbow grease to scrub out the answers!