The Truth About Recycling
There are many benefits to recycling materials at the end of their lives, but there are even more reasons why “Recycling” is the third and last R in Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
There are many benefits to recycling materials at the end of their lives, but there are even more reasons why “Recycling” is the third and last R in Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Glass, aluminum, and steal can be recycled indefinitely, making them a preferable option to plastic.
Because of this, we aren’t really reducing waste when we throw something in the recycling bin.
The Great Pacific garbage patch, or the Pacific trash vortex, is an island of marine debris particles and trash in the north-central Pacific Ocean that expands over 1 million square miles (that’s over 10 times the size of the United Kingdom).
Americans produce and use so much single-use plastic that other countries will no longer accept them for recycling.
Only a small percent of our recyclables are actually being reclaimed, which means most of the items we recycle will sit in warehouses, on land, or in oceans until we figure out what to do with them.
Every time your recycling bin gets picked up and transported to the processing facility, CO2 is released into the air. Every time those materials get processed, more CO2 is released into the atmosphere.
Recycling car batteries is quite common Batteries are actually the most recycled item in the US, at a 98% – 99% recycling rate! The easiestway to ensure your old battery gets recycled is just to take it to any dealership or automobile store. By law these shops are required to take them and have contracts with battery manufactures to regularly ship out old batteries to be recycled.
The EPA website states that if poured down any drain, oil from at-home oil changes can contaminate 1 million gallons of water. When powering your vehicle the motor oil is, consistently getting more and more contaminated. Refining the oil can remove the contaminants and allow the oil to be turned into fuel.
There are many ways tires can be reused and recycled. They can even be burned off and reused as fuel. Just in the United States 300 million tires per year are dumped into landfills, they become breeding houses for mosquitoes and attract rodents. Tires take up lots of space and can even become a fire hazard. Tire derived fuel has been and currently is an alternative fuel source to common fossil fuels andsurprisingly they produce 25% more energy than coal.
Below are a variety of ways to reuse tires before recycling.
When purchasing new appliances, choose a newer model with energy saving capabilities. Always recycle your old appliance since it contains a large amount of metal, including steel the most recycled material in the US. Using fluorocarbons and chlorofluorocarbons air conditioners and refrigerators chill air and are leading contributors of ozone depletion when not disposed of properly. With an energy saving appliances, you’ll save not only money on your monthly bills and but some companies will even apply a credit for your new appliance when you recycle your old one.
Below are our favorite eco friendly appliances.
GE Energy Star-labeled refrigerator
Batteries are found in many electronics including your smartphones and your cars. Batteries can be recycled via a take-back program, mail-in program, or even at localelectronics store. Many states require that they must be recycled because of their toxicity.
Over time our electronic capabilities, may grow and many of our once-beloved devices no longer have value. Transitioning from records to tapes, and from tapes to CDs can be easy. What’s not easy is figuring out what to do with your old devices.
Did you know that tapes and CDs are made of plastic— just not food grade plastic. For this reason they are not accepted in most recycling facilities.
Below are a few different ways to reuse CDs and tapes before recycling.
Your old computer monitor, or CRT, may not serve a purpose in your home office any longer, but it can still serve a purpose.Containing at least four pounds of lead, and if you have a liquid-crystal display, or LCD, screen, chances are it is backlit with fluorescent bulbs that contain mercury, all within your monitor. Lead and mercury are both highly toxic metals that, can be incredibly dangerous when handled incorrectly.
Large electronics need recycling just as much, if not more then, petite sized electronics. Large electronics are not easier to handle, but they are worth not throwing away in your regular garbage cans. These large devices can contain metals that are easily recycled and can be toxic if handled incorrectly.
Below are our favorite eco friendly paper companies.
Every year hundreds of millions of printer cartridges are bought and more than half are dumped into landfills. These cartridges can be recycled and refillable, so there’s no reason tothrow them away with the weekly garbage?
Ink cartridges can be refilled up to three times, but I have never met a person that has opted to refill instead of purchase a new cartridge. After they cannot be refilled any more, they can be recycled.
Retailers can refill your cartridges and they can recycle them when you are finished. You can even refill your cartridges at home!
Let’s be real—you’re probably going to get that upgrade and get a new phone at some point. There’s no shame in upgrading, especially when every update makes your two-year-old phone glitch and slow down!
Lucky for you, phones can be recycled pretty easily and have one of the highest recycling rates out of all electronics! We just need to do it correctly to ensure it actually gets recycled instead of ending up in a landfill or in the top drawer of our dresser for 5 years.
The most sure way to recycle your phone is to trade it in when you buy a new one. You can also drop it off at an EcoATM near you!
Although glass is the easiest and fastest medium to recycle, not all glass can be recycled. Glass that contained food is the perfect glass to recycle and can actually end up right back on your supermarket shelves within 30 days of being recycled and can be recycled indefinitely!
Glasses that have been treated with chemicals such as windows, lightbulbs, pyrex dishes, etc. cannot be recycled in your curbside bin.
Below are a variety of ways to reuse glass before recycling.
Below are our favorite companies that provide eco friendly glass.
Uncommon Goods: Recycled Glass Gifts
Trocadero 1903: Glassware
Wean Green: Food Storage
Glassnow: Bulk jars
American Specialty Glass: Home & Business Construction
Glass Recycled: Countertops
KAT Fabricators: Countertops
I know you’re thinking it probably would have been easier if The Grinch had managed to actually steal Christmas… at least the mess would be out of your hair! Luckily for you, it’s actually not too difficult to properly dispose of your tree.
If you must buy a real tree, try to find one that has been potted with the roots still on it. This way, you can plant it in your yard or donate it to be planted elsewhere.
Many cities collect trees curbside and will properly handle their disposal. You don’t want them ending up in a landfill, however, so make sure of the intentions of the person or company that is picking them up!
At some point in your life, you may decide to do some renovating in your space. Wether that means getting new carpet, replacing doors or tiles, or a total gut and remodel, you need to ensure you are disposing of the ‘leftovers’ properly. Construction and demolition materials include, but are not limited to bricks, concrete, doors, wood, tree stumps, stones, windows, bathroom fixtures, metal, and so on. Keep in mind that even if you wish to be rid of something that is still functional, you can donate or give it away to someone that would make use of it!
Below are a variety of beautiful ways to create art from construction waste.
I’d rather be that person with a drawer full of corks waiting for an idea on what to do with them than be the person that just throws them away every time I pop a bottle! Corks can be recycled and repurposed so easily if you don’t like keeping crafting materials on hand.
Whatever you do, do not flush your unused medications down the toilet!!! Our waters are polluted enough as is without adding more things into the mix. When cleaning out your medicine cabinet, surrender all unwanted and expired medications to your local pharmacy.
If taking such medications to a pharmacy is not an option, you can throw them away. Make sure to dispose of them somewhere that children won’t find them! Mix medications with other materials such as sand or clean cat litter so dogs and children don’t mistake them for something tasty.
Medical supplies can be tricky to dispose of! Sharp items, syringes and tubes are biohazards and need to be properly disposed of. Check and see if your local pharmacy has a program that will properly dispose of them for you! If not, do some searching online for something local or a mail-in program.
We have all been conditioned to clean out our closets at the end of the season, but did we really need to get rid of that perfectly functional top when we’re just going to buy a similar one when the same season rolls around next year? No, we don’t! If you’re trying to live a more eco friendly lifestyle, one of the best things you can do for yourself and the planet is to not throw away perfectly good clothes.
Now, a time will come when your clothing item doesn’t fit or is totally ruined. So how can we dispose of our old clothing in a safe way that doesn’t add to one of the biggest polluting industries on the planet (the fashion industry)?
If you haven’t made the switch to package-free bathroom products, you likely have a ton of recyclables in your bathroom! Bathroom product packaging is just as easy to recycle as food packaging, and you can recycle more than you think you can!
Whenever you’re ready to switch to package-free products, don’t hesitate!
Carpets and rugs will not break down in a landfill and cannot be recycled curbside. When recycled properly, nearly all kinds of carpets can be recycled and turned into new carpets and other plastic products. When shopping for new carpets or rugs, ask around to see if the company you’re looking at has a recycling system. When you purchase your replacement if one is needed, try to find a more eco friendly alternative to the typical plastic carpets.
Below are our favorite companies that provide eco friendly carpet and rugs.
Making the switch to homemade or low-waste home cleaners is not easy, but when you finally do it, it will be so worth it. Now, what to do with your empty bottles of chemicals….. Recycle them, of course!
Below are our favorite companies that provide eco friendly cleaners.
It’s easy to get rid of, however, if you have access to large amounts of cooking oil, you’ll want to find a commercial oil recycler to dispose of your old cooking oils.
The most eco friendly way to live is to use things until they are no longer usable… but what do you do when that happens to cookware??
Below are our favorite eco friendly cookware companies.
Furniture is made with many mediums and, therefore, is a bit harder to dispose of properly! It’s always better to repair, recover and fix furniture before buying new, and donate when you must get something new. As a last resort, you can recycle it with bulk waste.
Below are our favorite eco friendly furniture companies.
If you are unsure wether or not an item contains mercury, check epa.gov. Our household items and products often contain mercury and you don’t want it leaking in your trash bin where children and animals can get ahold of it, especially because some forms of mercury can contaminate the air making it toxic to breathe. Many cities and towns have a hazardous waste collection system for items like these, so you will need to contact your local municipality to find more information.
The method of disposal for paints depends on what kind of paint you’re dealing with. Latex water-based paints are incredibly common and are accepted at many household hazardous waste facilities and events. Water-based paints can be recycled and made into new paints, but you’ll have to seek out recycling opportunities to ensure they get recycled.
Below are our favorite companies that provide eco friendly paint.
Chemical pesticides can’t be recycled and the bottles they com in can’t be thrown in your curbside bins! Do not pour their contents down the drain and do not reuse their containers. Some cities may have a system in place for recycling these containers.
Below are a variety of ways to reuse glass before recycling.
Below are our favorite companies that eco friendly products that come in cans.
Below are a variety of ways to reuse aluminum foil before recycling.
While all paper accounts for half of the weight picked up in local curbside programs, books and magazines are some of the heaviest paper products picked up. These items fall under our “mixed paper” category, which has a very low recycling market for reuse. saves
Over half of the cardboard collected is used to make new cardboard boxes, and additional cardboard can be down cycled into paperboard (used for cereal boxes) or chipboard (used for shoeboxes). Making 1 ton of new cardboard requires 3 tons of trees, whereas, recycling 1 ton of cardboard eliminates 9 cubic yards of landfill space.
Waxed Cardboard: Used to handle extreme temperatures.
Below are our favorite companies that sell eco friendly cardboard boxes and provide boxes you can rent for your move to lower waste.
Shelf Cartons
Below are a few different ways to reuse common household items to use as gift wrap.
Below are our favorite eco friendly gift wrap and accessory companies.
Below are a few different ways to reuse newspaper before recycling.
Below are a few different ways to reuse paper before recycling.
Below are our favorite eco friendly paper companies.
Below are a few different ways to reuse paper cups before recycling.
Below are our favorite companies that sell biodegradable & compostable cups. This means when you throw your cup away, it will naturally break down into Earth over time.
EcoChoice: Bulk Only
Good Start Packing: Bulk Only
Below are a few different ways to reuse common household items to use as gift wrap.
Below are our favorite companies that sell plastic bag, film, and wrap alternatives.
Stasher: Reusable Silicone Bags
Vonn Art: Illustrative 100% Recycled Tote Bag
Totebag Factory: Customizable Tote Bags
Unwasted: Silicone Stretchable Lids
The Earthline Co: Cotton Produce Bags
Bee’s Wrap: Food Wrap
Below are our favorite companies that provide eco friendly packing supplies.
Uline: Biodegradable Packing Peanuts
Eco Enclose: Alternative Box Fillers