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greetings, y'all, been a while since i made one of these lol
something i've noticed is that a looooot of people don't know how to recycle properly. and i mean a lot!
so that's something i wanted to address here because if enough contaminants (non-recyclable materials) get into a batch of would-be recyclables, the whole thing will get thrown away anyway, rendering it pointless.
so let's begin! ^^
(note: once part two drops i'll combine both into one blog post, i'm just tired rn)
plastic
first off, you might recycle everything that's plastic because it "has a recycling symbol on it", but you're wrong.
first off, not everything that has a recycling symbol on it is recyclable. often it's just included to make the product sell better. second, if it's plastic, it's probably not a recycling symbol at all!
plastic is labelled with what's called a resin identification code, which looks like a recycling symbol but it has a number inside of the arrows and sometimes a few letters underneath. a resin identification code is used to, of course, identify what kind of plastic it is. not all plastic is recyclable!
in some regions, plastic labelled 1 (pete), 2 (hdpe), and 5 (pp) are recyclable, but in most only 1 and 2 are accepted by recycling facilities. check with your local recycling facility! you should easily be able to find a website or phone number with a bit of research.
because of this, if the plastic type isn't recyclable or isn't labelled at all, THROW IT AWAY! i know it feels bad, but it will be considered a contaminant and get thrown away anyway, most likely right alongside perfectly recyclable material if there's enough contaminants. just throw it away.
additionally, plastic bottle caps are another thing to watch out for. even if the bottle is recyclable, the cap is not. remove the cap (and the little ring left behind) before recycling.
paper/cardboard
most paper can be recycled! magazines, colored paper, newspaper, and phone books are are recyclable. recycling facilities can also accept spiral notebooks with the spiral removed, as most facilities aren't equipped to process wire. you shouldn't try to recycle wire hangers for the same reason.
wrapping paper/gift wrap isn't recyclable. it's laminated with plastic, which is how it gets that glossy look. throw it away, and consider wrapping items in more eco-friendly material like kraft paper. there's also the japanese art of furoshiki, which is wrapping items in decorated fabrics!
shredded paper is difficult to process, and so isn't accepted as recyclable.
food containers like pizza boxes usually aren't recyclable due to being contaminated by oils and grease. the same goes for used tissues, used paper towels, and used napkins; they're contaminated, so just throw them away or compost them.
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