By Ajibola Ameerah
With increasing awareness about recycling, most people agree that recycling is good for the environment. We have an option of either sending our recyclables to landfills or helping in our little way into making them to whole new products.
For recycling to be properly efficient, we need to have a general knowledge of what we should do and what we shouldn’t.
Below are short tips on the dos and don’ts
DOS
- Be sure to flatten cardboard e.g. Juice boxes, as much as possible.Flattened cardboard = less air = fewer pickups and lower costs!
- Rinse all containers until they’re spotless— like plastic juice/milk jugs, yogurt containers, sour cream containers, etc.
- Reuse try putting into new use items that are not recyclable.
- Keep the lid of metal cans attached, folding them inside the can to cover the sharp edge left from the can opener.
- Separate Do not throw all waste in one place
- Check if there are local options for recyclingother types of glass, plastic or other materials that aren’t commonly recycled, but could be in your area. Every place is different.
- Recycle aluminum foil, trays and pie plates– foil is easy to wipe clean, you can reuse it as much as possible, when it’s time to go in the bin be sure to clean it!
- Recycle glass Glass jars and bottles (clear and colored)
DON’TS
- Throw plastic shopping bags in with the recycling– plastic bags can always be reused and there are other options like reusable cloth bags.
- Fling milk cartons (including soy, almond and rice milk cartons) in your bin.There are separate programs for collecting cartons in some places – always check to see. Be sure they’re thoroughly cleaned as well!
- Recycle soiled paper and boxes e.g. pizza boxesYes they are recyclable, but once a pizza is put in the box it contaminates the cardboard with grease, cheese, and other toppings
- Recycle food waste, yard waste, used diapers, mirrors, light bulbs, mixed products e.g. Plastic and metal containers
Culled from
http://www.buschsystems.com/recycling-bin-news/2014/03/the-dos-and-donts-of-recycling/
http://www.simplyrecycle.ca/dos-and-donts/
