Surprise! Five Things You Shouldn't Recycle

Most of us feel less guilty when we toss something in the bin headed for the recycling plant rather than the landfill. Turns out, though, wishful thinking may do more harm than good. If you include some items that aren't recyclable, you run the risk of your entire batch being shipped off to the nearest dump. The best thing you can do is educate yourself about local recycling rules. In the meantime here's the short list of common items that don't belong in the recycling bin, no matter what your zip code:

Pizza boxes. The oil from pizza can contaminate cardboard boxes, making it impossible to process them into clean paper.

Napkins and paper towels. It's not the paper goods themselves that present a problem, but the fact that they're typically used to wipe up food, cleaning products, and other "hazardous waste."

Sticky notes. Their size, color, and the adhesive strip make them a better bet for the trash bin.

Plastic caps. Curbside programs won't recycle them, but Aveda collects them and turns them into packaging for new products.

Wet paper. Paper fibers that have been exposed to water are shorter and therefore less valuable to paper mills, making it unprofitable to collect and recycle.

Figuring out which plastics you can recycle is often confusing. It's generally well known that most curbside programs only take plastics labeled #1 and #2 on the bottom, but many people are shocked to hear that shape sometimes plays a role. For example, many communities don't accept tubs (mouth wider than base), but will take bottles (base wider than mouth) even if the numbers are the same because these plastics are manufactured differently, says Darby Hoover of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Check in with your local waste or sanitation department to find out what the specific rules are in your area. You can also log onto http://www.earth911.org/ for a wealth of recycling information from helpful articles to its extensive database where you can type in your zip code for a listing of local resources.

Go Green! Recycle Your Old Car!

You can complete the entire donation process online 24/7 at www.cars4charities.org. In addition to being convenient, the online option is better for the environment since it reduces the use of paper and other consumables. Donated cars that need significant repair are completely recycled. Others are sold for repair and reuse.

Cars4Charities handles the entire donation process and can have your car picked up in a matter of days, free of charge. The proceeds from your car will be used to help one of over 1,000 charities, including Prevent Cancer Foundation, Autism Speaks, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the American Autoimmune Related Disease Association, the American Foundation for the Blind, and area food banks and homeless shelters, etc.

In addition to helping a very needy charity, you will be eligible for a tax deduction of up to $500 or the amount your car is sold for, whichever is greater.

Complete details are available at www.cars4charities.org or 1-866-448-3487 (GIVE-4-US).

Paper or Plastic? The Surprising Answer

It's easy to think of plastic as the villain. After all, there's a growing number of cities and countries around the globe either banning them outright or proposing taxes and fees to discourage their use. And yet, the answer to that age-old question is not nearly as clear-cut as it may seem. Did you know, for example, that more energy is used to produce paper bags than their plastic counterparts? Making paper bags also requires a lot of water (not to mention trees).

The production of plastic bags is equally problematic. They're made from oil (an estimated 12 million barrels a year just to produce those used in the U.S.). Another huge downside is that they can make their way into large bodies of water and harm marine life. The best option, of course, is quite familiar by now. Forgo single use bags and carry your own reusable bags.

That said, there are probably going to be times when you are forced to pick one over the other. Follow these simple guidelines:

When to pick plastic:

• The paper-bag option is made from timber instead of post-consumer recycled fiber (and it's not in danger of ending up in an ocean). Look for a label on the bag or ask your store.
• You are more likely to reuse a plastic bag than one made of paper. Consider using them for your trash instead of spending money on new plastic garbage liners at the store. In that scenario, you're getting two uses out of the plastic bag, so it's like having a bag made from 50 percent recycled content, says Martin Wolf, Director of Product & Environmental Technology at Seventh Generation.
• You can recycle plastic bags more easily than paper.

When to choose paper:

• The bag is made from post-consumer recycled fiber.
• You live in a place where there is a risk that a plastic bag might end up in a large body of water.
• You can reuse or recycle a paper bag more easily than one made of plastic.
  

Current Market Statistics - Hamilton County

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