Posted by
Sue on Monday, January 21, 2008 2:05:35 PM
01/21/08 10:47am PST
Here is some interesting information I dug up because this household in on a "recycle/green" type of program now for the past couple of months. We earned $20.00 and used it to pay for lunch for four at Subway right after we stood in line for nearly an hour. Then spent another twenty minutes feeding some machine while worrying that the plastic mountain behind us would fall over on us. Interesting day. They had no information on "what" we could recycle, by they seemed to take what they were given: aluminum cans, of course. No cardboard or paper. Wine, beer and olive oil bottles although there weren't as many of those as you would imagine. So I googled recycling plastics as here is what I found. The recycle symbol is on the bottom of every plastic bottle so that helps. If it is a 1, 2,3 or 4 you'll have an easy time of it (haha). 5-6 aren't in our daily lives as a genera rule but there is a website address below you can check out. I don't even know what a
7 is and I probably won't find it in our home.
Below courtesy of: http://www.lime.com/
Recycle: Polyethylene terephthalate's (PETE),
commonly found in bottles for soda, water, juice, beer, mouthwash,
ketchup, salad dressing, medicine containers, and microwavable food
trays are readily accepted by curbside recycling programs. They can be
made into fiberfill for winter coats, sleeping bags, life jackets, bean
bags, rope, tennis ball felt, combs, cassette tapes, boat sails,
furniture, and of course, other plastic bottles.
Recycle: High-density polyethylene plastics (HDPE),
commonly found in heavier containers that hold laundry detergents and
bleaches as well as milk, shampoo, and motor oil are readily accepted
by curbside recycling programs. They can be made into toys, piping,
lumber, and rope.
Recycle: Polyvinyl chloride, commonly found in
plastic pipes, shower curtains, medical tubing, vinyl dashboards, and
baby bottle nipples, is accepted by few curbside recycling programs due
to its low rate of recyclability. Check the
Earth 911 website to see if your municipal recycling center accepts number 3's.
Recycle: Low-density polyethylene (LDPE), commonly
found in plastic wrapping films for food or dry cleaning, as well as
grocery or sandwich bags, is accepted by very few curbside recycling
programs. Unfortunately, most plastic bags will end up in the trash.
However Whole Foods, Wal-Mart, and Wegman's Food Marts will recycle any
plastic bags if you take them to the store. Check the
Earth 911 website to see if your municipal recycling center accepts number 4's.
Recycle: Mixed or layered plastics have virtually
no recycling potential. These are usually imprinted with a number 7 or
nothing at all. Ambitious consumers can feel free to return such items
to the product manufacturers to avoid contributing to local waste.
Check the
Earth 911 website to see if your municipal recycling center accepts number 7's.