Paper vs Digital Storage

In the days of digital pictures & information and storing everything in the cloud, is it really necessary to ask if people still record information on paper, print it off and file it away? Is it even possible that people still like to hold a newspaper or an actual book rather than read from a table or computer?

Several studies still show that the majority of people, even young kids, prefer printed books to reading from screens.

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.

Can I Recycle Laundry Detergent Bottles?

Laundry detergent bottles fall under the category of Plastic #2, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), along with other products like cleaner bottles, milk jugs, and other rigid, non-clear/colored plastics.

This material is definitely in demand and recyclable in many conventional recycling centers. 

Diapers in the Landfill

Each year, recycling centers across the nation have to discard disposable diapers into the landfill that people put in with their recycling. Disposable diapers are not only not recyclable, they shouldn’t be put into the landfill….or on your baby for that matter.

It is estimated that 90-95% of babies in the United States wear disposable diapers for approximately 2-21/2 years. “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that about 20 billion disposable diapers are dumped in landfills each year, accounting for more than 3.5 million tons of waste.”

Are Manufacturers Required to Use Recyclable Materials or Packaging?

Some more progressive parts of the United States, particularly on the west coast, have laws mandating that they use a certain percentage of recycled materials in the production of new items.

According to wastedive.com and takepart.com, the top superstar recycling cities in the US are:

• San Francisco, CA
• Los Angeles, CA
• San Jose, CA
• Portland, OR
• San Diego, CA

Is the Release of Balloons Considered Littering?

Birthday parties, sporting events, and weddings have one major thing in common. They are all excellent venues to let off an enormous amount of helium-filled balloons.

While beautiful and sometimes impressive, it is also illegal in many states and constitutes littering. Many cities and states have laws banning the release of helium-filled balloons including, “California, Connecticut, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia. Cities that have laws include Ocean City, Maryland; Louisville, Kentucky; Huntsville, Alabama; San Francisco, California; Nantucket, Massachusetts, and Baltimore, Maryland.”

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.

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.

Are Blister Packs Recyclable?

“Blister pack is a term for several types of pre-formed plastic packaging used for small consumer goods, foods, and for pharmaceuticals.” Everything from toys to electronics have been known to come in blister packs.

According to answers.com, credit for the invention is given to Enock Ancker of Fort Bayard, New Mexico who invented the blister pack for pills on Feb 18, 1947.

Recycling Colored Paper

Colored paper, along with any other type of paper, is recyclable.  The different types of paper,
however, require different recycling processes as they are used to make new paper products.

"Paper recycling is a large scale, multi-step process with the objective to recover the paper fibers, and often other paper components such as mineral fillers, and use them as a raw material to produce new paper.

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.

PETE?...Who's PETE?

Eight glasses of water a day? In today’s fast-paced society, how often are we near a glass and a kitchen faucet? The obvious answer to being able to drink this much water a day is, of course, is the ever-popular water bottle. It is estimated that, “every 27 hours Americans consume enough bottled water to circle the entire equator with plastic bottles stacked end to end. In just a single week, those bottles would stretch more than halfway to the moon — 155,400 miles.”*
 
If we really sat and pondered all of the products we use every day containing plastic, we would be astonished to find out that it’s a far shorter list of thing that do not contain any plastic material. Plastic, in itself, has so many benefits. Lowered production costs, lighter weight, ease of portability are just a few. But what about the drawbacks of so much plastic in our environment?

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.

Paper or Plastic...Does it Matter?

“Paper or plastic?” used to be as common of a question in grocery stores as “Would you like help carrying your bags to your car?” Now, incidentally, rarely are either of these questions uttered in stores today.

Plastic grocery bags were introduced in the 1970s and gained immediate popularity. This veritable success story has a track record that any inventor would more than envy. Since its introduction four decades ago, this product has gone from “unheard of” to “unbelievably popular”. Now accounting for about four out of every five bags handed out in grocery stores, the plastic grocery bag as a product is an amazing success. 

“I’ll Have a 14” Pepperoni Pizza...And Hold The Box!”

With the development of single stream recycling, the recycling process has come a long way from its initial introduction. 

Labels can be left on tin cans and plastic bottles since the heat involved in the processing of these materials eliminates the labels altogether. Most recycling centers even allow lids to be left on plastic bottles and containers. If that’s the case, surely something as harmless as stickers on a cardboard box is ok, right? The answer to that is a surprising "No". How about a little food residue in cans, plastic or cardboard? Although recycling centers ask that plastic, glass, and metal recyclables be rinsed and clean, cardboard and paper is a different story.

The Gift of Recycling

Today's gift card originated years ago from something called a voucher and has only gained momentum in sales and popularity. "In 2014, retail purchases made with prepaid cards will top U.S. $200 billion dollars, equaling five percent of all retail spending in the U.S.

"It's estimated that up to 28 to 30 percent of the United States population holds a prepaid card of some type and that two out of every three people in the United States have bought a gift card of some kind.

Grasping at Straws

When deciding how to dispose of things into the trash or as recycling, we usually turn things over and all around to find the triangle with a number inside of it denoting a recyclable item. But does everything that is recyclable have the number in a triangle? I used to think so. Which probably means that many more people probably think so too.

You’ll rarely, if ever, find a recycling symbol on plastic utensils or a drinking straw, but “plastic utensils are usually made of polyethylene terephthalate (plastic No. 1) or polystyrene (plastic No. 6). Drinking straws are usually made from polypropylene (plastic No. 5).”