Once you’ve taken a vow to create less waste in the first place, your next assignment is to recycle whatever and whenever you can. Recycling has many cheerleaders. The Natural Resources Defense Council sums it up this way on its website: “Recycling is one of the most feel-good and useful environmental practices around. The benefits go way beyond reducing piles of garbage—recycling protects habitat and biodiversity, and saves energy, water, and resources such as trees and metal ores. Recycling also cuts global warming pollution from manufacturing, landfilling and incinerating.”
Here are a few creative ways to expand the recycling paradigm in your home.
Media: Keep your unwanted media products from piling up in your closet or getting mixed in the trash.
Electronics: About 70 percent of the toxic waste in landfills is attributable to e-waste—all those unwanted computers, cords, motherboards, MP3 players, and cell phones. Since these electronics contain heavy metals like lead and mercury, it’s important to recycle them and keep them out of the environment, water supplies in particular.
Furniture: 8.8 million tons of furniture was thrown away in 2005. There’s no reason not to recycle grandma’s old chair. The same places you might look for scoring used furniture are good places to unload items you’re no longer into.
Clothing: On average an American throws away 68 pounds of clothing or textiles per year. Cleaning out your closet? Those sweaters and slacks deserve another home. Dress for Success takes donated business wear and redistributes it to those who can’t afford the finery.
Toys and kids’ stuff: You know the story. The must-have-best-thing-in-the-whole-wide-world eventually gets shoved in the back of the closet because your child has moved on. Zwaggle takes donations of kids’ stuff and finds a new home for it.
Building and remodeling waste: As noted earlier in the chapter, building waste is a ton of waste. In fact, each year more than 100 million tons get junked. Much of it could be repurposed: used drywall scraps, for example, can be made into new drywall. If you aren’t doing the work yourself, make sure the contractor you hire hauls the waste to a recycling facility.
Plastic no. 1, or polyethylene terephthalate (PETE), is the most commonly recycled and recyclable plastic. PETE can be recycled into other food and beverage bottles. It can also be downcycled into things like deli trays, carpets, clothing, and car parts. Most curbside recyclers and municipalities accept PETE.
Plastic no. 2, or high-density polyethylene (HDPE), is a heavier plastic found in detergent bottles and milk jugs. It can be recycled back into detergent bottles, construction-grade imitation lumber, and, ironically enough, recycling bins, among other things.
enough, recycling bins, among other things.
Plastic no. 3, vinyl or polyvinyl chloride (PVC), is not readily recyclable—and it’s hazardous to boot. If you have vinyl or PVC, some specialty companies will accept it, though it’s most likely downcycled into some other product like playground equipment or flooring tiles. Avoid bringing this plastic into your home.
Plastic no. 3, vinyl or polyvinyl chloride (PVC), is not readily recyclable—and it’s hazardous to boot. If you have vinyl or PVC, some specialty companies will accept it, though it’s most likely downcycled into some other product like playground equipment or flooring tiles. Avoid bringing this plastic into your home.
Plastic no. 4 is low-density polyethylene. It’s used in sandwich bags, grocery bags, and wrapping films, among other things. It’s not recycled in most municipal programs. Many large grocery store chains are developing programs to take back the plastic no. 4 bags, however.
Plastic no. 5 is polypropylene. It can be recycled into car parts and packaging. Municipal programs are not likely to accept no. 5, but Whole Foods has recently partnered with Preserve Inc. on a campaign called Gimme 5. Preserve collects no. 5 plastics for recycling into new products like toothbrushes and tableware.
Plastic no. 6 is more widely accepted for recycling. It’s polystyrene, often found in cups and packing peanuts, and can be reprocessed and downcycled into packagingand other products.
Plastic no. 7 is a mixed bag, made up of rare blends or combinations of resins. No. 7 is the least recyclable plastic and, coupled with the fact that many no. 7s contain BPA, this means you should reduce your use.
Make recycling easy too. Put bins next to common garbage cans so that residents have a choice about where to put that junk mail. Make signs listing what’s accepted and what’s not, and post educational material touting the saintly virtues of recycling. Or hold who-has-the-smallest-garbage-bag-this-week contests—the winner gets his or her beverage of choice, in a recyclable bottle of course.
