Reasons People Give For Not Recycling

We all have times where we recycle more or less than other times. Situations present themselves which speak to the ease and convenience of recycling, the conscientious feeling of doing a good thing for the environment and leaving the world a great place for future generations.

On the other hand, however, we tend to let good habits slide if ease and convenience subside or in the cases below, if we don’t truly understand what it really means to recycle like we can or should. 

Are Wood Products Recyclable?

The term “recycling” conjures up thoughts of aluminum, plastic, glass, and paper. A recyclable commodity that may get overlooked is wood.

Wood recycling, consisting both of raw wood and used wood products, as well as paper, and has become more of a focus in the past decade. We don’t normally think of recycling a natural, renewable resource, but considering the staggering statistics, it is more than necessary.

 

The downside of wood recycling is that some curbside recycling programs don’t yet accept wood, but by not recycling wood, we are depleting an extremely important natural resource.

Does Convenience Have a Cost?

What’s the cost of convenience? The term “cost” can cover a wide range of ways that something impacts something else. It can be monetary, which is the most obvious, but money may be the least detrimental in terms of “cost”.

In a world filled with convenience stores, items, food and a host of other things directed at saving time and keeping people moving in their busy lives, some important things are being left to fall by wayside.

Are Wrapping Paper, Ribbons, and Bows Recyclable?

This time of year brings about a lot of gift-giving and even more questions about whether certain things are recyclable.

Gifts are generally given in one of, or a combination of, the following: gift bags, various types of gift wrap, ribbon, and bows. Technically few of which are recyclable.

Wrapping paper, made primarily of, well…paper, seems to beg to be put into your recycling bin after use just by virtue of the fact that paper is one of the most commonly recycled commodity. 

The reality, however, is that “including it in the bin with other paper products can make an entire load unrecyclable.”

Many of today’s commonly used wrapping paper is made with foil or thin layers of plastic coating the paper and some tissue paper contains acid, making it a less desirable item to recycle. 

Lithium Battery Disposal

“Lithium batteries are disposable batteries that have lithium metal or lithium compounds as an anode.” An anode is the positively charged electrode. Lithium-ion batteries are their rechargeable counterparts.

Non-rechargeable lithium batteries had been in the works since the early 1900s but made their way into markets being commercially available in the early 1970s.

How Safe Are Recycling Centers?

Recycling as many used products, packaging, unwanted junk mail, and office paper as we can is a sensible and responsible thing we can do for our environment. The future of our natural resources relies on our ability to conserve as much as we can for as long as we can.

As much as it is obviously a good thing, recycling can be dangerous for those who are employed at recycling centers.

Can I Put Batteries Into My Regular Trash?

Batteries have become an American staple for such things like appliances, toys, electronics, and so many other things we have grown fond of in our lives. “Fond of” is almost an understatement when it comes to some of the things that take batteries that we have almost become dependent on.

So many of the household batteries that we use are able to be thrown into the trash and, ultimately, the landfill.

Do You Have Recycling Bias?

The term “Recycling Bias” refers to the propensity of people to throw larger or full sheets of paper into the recycling bin while bits and scraps of paper went into the trash.

The same was found to be true of crushed cans or plastic bottles. Empty but intact cans or bottles went into the recycling bin while their crushed or dented counterparts were destined for the landfill. 

Illegal Dumping at Recycling Centers

When used for their intended purpose, recycling drop-off centers can be a very useful and valuable aid in getting rid of excess recycling. This is especially true if you do not subscribe to a residential curbside recycling program or have larger quantities that may not fit into your residential recycling bins.

This is the obvious intended purpose of the drop-off centers but misuse of these collection centers or blatant abuse or disregard of the intended purpose can mean some pretty stiff penalties. Environmental pollution, fines, and even having the recycling drop-off center removed from the premises completely can occur if these collection sites are not properly used and maintained.

Which Cities Have the Highest Recycling Rates...and Why?

Since the emergence of recycling, there have been several advancements, innovations, and
improvements in the industry. There have also been court rulings, city ordinances, and even state laws making recycling mandatory.

This may account for high rates of recycling in some areas. It does not, however, explain why the 5 cities with the highest recycling rates are on the West coast. The top five cities are as follows:

Tired of Tiresome Tires?....Say That 3 Times Fast!

“What do I do with these old tires?” One of the most popular recycling questions ever asked. Our best advice to you is to go to your local tire dealer to dispose of them properly. Tire dealers usually take unwanted tires for around $1.50 - $2.00 per tire, then turn them over to authorized recyclers.  

“Rubber is difficult to recycle due to the procedure known as “vulcanization,” which it undergoes to attain its springy, flexible nature. Vulcanization is a curing process that involves adding sulfur to rubber, which creates stronger bonds between the rubber polymers. Due to the vulcanization method, tires are difficult to melt for reuse and are therefore typically broken down by a mechanical process.

Playing The Numbers Game

When we were in high school and asked the question, “When am I ever going to use this again?”, we heard that we would need that math somewhere in our lives...but who would have thought it would be for recycling? Numbers, triangles, densities...what do all of these mean? Well, it’s not really math, and not as difficult as it sounds.                     

All recyclable plastic has a triangle on it, usually on the bottom of the container, with a number in it.  This number refers to the type, or density, of the plastic used in the container.  Some of these are safer to use than others and more environmentally friendly as well.  Once we learn what each is and what it does we can not only know how to dispose of them, but also decide whether we want to choose a different container to cook in or alternate type of packaging for food.

What's Your Carbon Footprint?

The amount of carbon dioxide or other carbon compounds released into the atmosphere by the activities of an individual, company, country, etc. refers to its “Carbon Footprint.”
 
The carbon footprint is 54 percent of humanity's overall Ecological Footprint and its most rapidly growing component.

The ecological footprint is a measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems. It is a standardized measure of demand for natural capital that may be contrasted with the planet's ecological capacity to regenerate.

Redo It To It

When the term “Recycling” is used, we generally think of plastics and aluminum being melted down and used to manufacture new items. But let’s not forget that recycling is also cycling used items through new people making that item new....to them!

If you’ve ever shopped at stores such as Goodwill or other thrift stores or at a consignment store, you have essentially been part of a recycling process for those items. “The resale industry has grown by about 7 percent in the last two years. 

There are now about 30,000 resale, consignment and thrift stores operating in the United States, according to the National Association of Resale Professionals, or NART. Resale is a multi-billion-dollar-per-year industry. Don't believe it? Well, according to NART, Goodwill Industries alone generated $2.8 billion in retail sales from its 2,324 nonprofit thrift stores in 2009.” These statistics are from a time directly following a huge economic downturn. Since then, these types of stores have only gained popularity.

Biodiesel As A Renewable Energy Source

Biodiesel is a derivative of vegetable sources such as soybean oil and is similar to diesel fuel. It can also be made from recycled cooking oil and animal fats.

All major engine manufacturers’ warranties cover the use of biodiesel fuels, most often in blends of up to 5 percent or 20 percent biodiesel.

Plants in nearly every state in the country produce biofuel. Its production has increased from approximately 25 million gallons in the early 2000s to almost 1.1 billion gallons in 2012. “This represents a small but growing component of the annual U.S. on-road diesel market of about 35 billion to 40 billion gallons.”

Recycling Food? It’s Not as Unusual as You Think

As stated in previous articles, when we discuss recycling we often think of plastics, aluminum, glass, paper, cardboard, and similar commodities. What about another item commonly thrown away? Food. 

“Recycling” food seems a little unsettling, but composting is a recycling of sorts. Composting is mixing various organic substances, such as dead leaves, food scraps, grass clippings, allowing them to decay, and using the new material for fertilizing soil. 

Everything is Coming Up 7s

to understand what these different plastics consist of and if they are able to be recycled. Toys, packaging, electronics, and even cars almost always have some type of plastic in them. Are they all recyclable? Unfortunately, no.

The most popular and most abundant types of plastic are #1 polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE) and #2, high density polyethylene (HDPE). Water bottles and soda bottles are the most used and most recycled among #1 plastics. Gallon milk jugs, some shampoo and lotion bottles, bleach containers, juice bottles, butter and yogurt containers make up the majority of #2 plastics.

Food Recycling, Revisited

With a stocked, or semi-stocked, pantry in your home, you probably have a handful of items that you just keep pushing out of the way to get to the cans or boxes that you want. Maybe these items were supposed to go into a recipe that you never made, or perhaps you bought too many and ended up with some you weren’t going to use.

Many of us have extra non-perishable food items in our homes that we could easily part with and don’t think much of it, but with a 16% hunger rate in Northern Indiana alone, we hold a veritable goldmine!

Food donation centers and events have been around for as many years as any of us can remember. We don’t seem to be closing the gap, however, on hunger. In fact, the hunger rate is actually rising.

Trust Me....I’m a Recycling Company

Have you found yourself wondering, “If I recycle a plastic bottle...does it go to make new plastic bottles?” or “What could possibly be made from recycled glass?” You are not alone. Recycling is one of those “blind processes” that we know happens, but it happens behind the scenes.

Let me reassure you, however, that the vast majority of your clean recyclables taken or sent to Recycling Works are processed and sent to the world market for reuse...sometimes as other things.

Wood You Believe.....?

The term “recycling” conjures up thoughts of aluminum, plastic, glass, and paper. A recyclable commodity that may get overlooked is wood.

Wood recycling, consisting both of raw wood and used wood products, as well as paper, and has become more of a focus in the past decade. We don’t normally think of recycling a natural, renewable resource, but considering the staggering statistics, it is more than necessary.