Elizah_leigh_head_shot_august_2009

Help! Are Any Of These Items Recyclable?

Posted by Elizah LeighUser517_level, Wednesday, July 22 2009, 03:17 AM

These are some of the burning questions that have been uttered in my household lately.

HAG.jpg

Can we recycle empty ice cream containers?

109061561_c475132d09.jpg

What about soda cups from fast food joints? (Cough-cough...okay, that was in a moment of weakness, plus the tacos were 4 for $1.00 since our local baseball team scored 7 runs in a row.)

cay.jpg

Styrofoam packaging? I have saved so much of this junk for a rainy recycling day, but none of my local facilities accept it. Any ideas on what to do? I have packaging peanuts as well as solid styrofoam "cushioning" slabs.

jarlids.jpg

Jar lids from spaghetti sauce, jam, etc.? I've noticed that so many of these lids aren't solid metal -- they have some sort of plastic seal on the inside.

JUICE.jpg

How about empty milk and juice containers?? They have a slightly waxy coating on the outside, so I'm not so sure how that factors into their recyclability.

Catlitter-tray.jpg

And the most important and recurring question of all -- what can I do with all of the used cat litter that my household of four felines generate? (I have earnestly tried every eco-friendly alternative on the market, but to no avail. I couldn't deal with the kronically krazy kat revolt and out of desperation, I sheepishly reverted back to the horrible strip-mined stuff.)

All tips are greatly appreciated, even if they're random shots in the dark!!


Share this:

Comments

  • Mttamphoto

    Justine BurtApprentice said on July 22, 2009

    Elizah, does your town take any of those items for recycling? Every town is different so you have to check and see what your town will accept. I've lived places that will take OJ containers because there is a market for the paper pulp in the carton and other places that don't accept OJ containers (because they couldn't find a recycler to buy it). Packaging that is made of just one type of material (paper, steel, aluminum, plastic, or glass) is generally more easily recyclable than something made of multiple materials (like asceptic packaging which has a layer of paper fiber next to a layer of metal foil surrounded by layer of plastic).
    • Elizah_leigh_head_shot_august_2009

      Elizah LeighUser517_level said on July 22, 2009

      Believe it or not, my town (in the mountains of Littleton) has no formal recycling service whatsoever, so I drive all of my "normal recyclables" 25 minutes away to the closest natural foods store which happens to have a community recycling bin in their parking lot. My mother lives in a nearby city and though she has curbside pickup, they accept less than my natural food store does (just the basics -- glass, metal, plastic 1 & 2, and paper). I've been hanging onto the materials pictured above as if I'm a pack rat, just waiting for the day when I can give them a proper reincarnation. Neither my natural foods store or my mom's recycling service accepts anything above...and they don't even accept the plastic lids or tubs from dairy products!!!
  • Mttamphoto

    Justine BurtApprentice said on July 22, 2009

    What is accepted for recycling all depends on whether someone else will buy the material to make it into something new. With China shipping over mountains of consumer goods to the U.S. and the U.S. shipping very little back of value, those empty shipping containers need to be filled with something. Voila, a solution for the West Coast's garbage problem! We ship our garbage cleaned, sorted and baled back to China so they can make it into new products for us. Hey, wait a minute! Maybe we should develop our own recycling markets more by buying more items with recycled content. Then we wouldn't have to chop down as many trees, import so much oil and mine so many minerals.
  • Img_0073

    Sherry GongApprentice said on July 25, 2009

    There is probably someone who will accept the styrofoam packaging. This article may be helpful: http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/218/1/Recycling-styrofoam.html

    Maybe you have friends that need packaging material?

    If you're willing to do the work, you can call the companies that produce these objects and ask them to tell you what the products are made of. I did that with cereal once to find out the plastic bag on the inside was #2 soft, which I found out my recycling center did not accept (which I called after calling the cereal company). It's a little bit of a nuisance though, and I don't do that with all products (though I probably should). It'd be nice if this stuff was easier to figure out.
    • Elizah_leigh_head_shot_august_2009

      Elizah LeighUser517_level said on July 25, 2009

      I don't know why I didn't think of calling the manufacturers directly -- thanks for the good suggestion. I know what you mean about it being a bit of a pain, but I don't mind putting in the effort if I know that it's going to help get these materials in the right hands. Thanks Sherry ;)

Leave a comment

Recent discussions

Green news

see all Yahoo_green_small
hits counter