I always try to recycle as much of our trash as possible, but sometimes it can be confusing figuring out what our local trash company will recycle. I called them and asked exactly what they recycle. Here is their answers with added instructions:
- Cardboard - corrugated cardboard, cereal boxes, and other food boxes.
- Paper - All newspapers (including all inserts), magazines, junk mail and phone books.
- Glass - All color glass containers from home use. Rinse containers. Remove the lids and discard them in the regular trash.
- Plastic - Soda bottles, wide mouthed beverage containers, mild and water jugs and detergent containers. Rinse containers and remove lids and discard them in the regular trash.
- Metal - All tin food cans, aluminum foil and pie pans. Remove all food residue, rinse and remove labels if possible.
- Polystyrene - "Styrofoam" egg cartons, refrigerated juice cartons (including those with plastic tops), and food or beverage containers with a "gable" top and "brick" shaped drink boxes.
They also said our community recycled more than 900 tons of material over the last year. And that recycling only accounted for 13% off all materials collected. 13% doesn't seem like that much and I bet we can do a lot better. If you have questions about what you can recycle in your community, call you garbage collector and ask. While you are on the phone, request a second recycling bin to help encourage yourself to recycle more.
