Sustainable Living
Recycling basics for the home
Recycling saves energy, landfill space and natural resources. Home recycling requires a trivial amount of time, yet offers substantial benefit to the homeowner as well as the environment. According to the EPA, the national recycling rate is just 30%. Increasing materials recycling in the US to 60% could save the equivalent of 315 million barrels of oil per year. Recycling is a great way individuals can make a difference, both locally and globally.
plastic
Plastic does not break down in landfill, and since It can be recycled to make many diverse products, effort should be made to recycle all plastic waste. Recycling centers vary in the types of plastic they accept. Check with your local recycling center, and take care to buy plastic goods which are recyclable.
- plastic goods are assigned different numbers to grade them for recycling: #1 (PET) and #2 (HDPE) for containers, #4 (LDPE) for bags, #7 for mixed plastics such as polycarbonates that are not recyclable. Almost all recycling centers accept plastics #1 and 2.
- plastic bottles are usually made of #1 PET plastic, a valuable recyclable material. Among many other items, this plastic can be "spun' into fleece fabric. Tops should be removed before recycling, and put in with your general plastic items. Polycarbonate baby bottles (#7 plastic) are not recycleable. - because it is difficult to clean PET plastic without releasing harmful chemicals, bottles made of PET should not be reused.
- plastic grocery bags - most grocery bags are made of high density polyethylene, a Type 2 recyclable plastic. Most grocery stores have bins outside so customers can drop off used plastic bags for recycling.
- polystyrene (#6) (cups, food trays, egg cartons, etc) does not biodegrade. Ask if your recycling center accepts polystyrene for recycling; many now accept this material. Try to reduce your use of this material.
-plastic #5 - Polypropylene: one of the least recyclable plastics Considered one of the safest plastics, #5 plastic is used for packaging items such as yogurt, cottage cheese, margarine and vitamins, and is contained in food wraps and bottle tops. It is one of the least expensive plastics to make. However, the process of recycling plastic #5 is less efficient than other plastics, and the end result has little market value.
• Choose products packaged with plastic #2 (HDPE). Many companies, especially those selling organic food, have switched to plastic #2, a better (but more expensive) alternative.
• Find out if your community has an All Plastics Recycling program which accepts plastic #5.
• Set aside your plastic #5 containers for reuse.
Minimal packaging - less to produce / less to throw away
Concentrated biodegradable products: a little goes a long way
Meaningful recycle symbol: HDPE #2 is the easiest plastic for consumers to recycle
Recycled paper and soy inks for product info tags and literature Biodegradable packing peanuts
Recycling of all production and packaging plastic
Every ton of recycled paper saves 17 forty foot Douglas Fir trees.
Paper takes up as much as 50% of all landfill space.
Up to 90% of recycled glass can be reused to make new glass items, such as bottles and jars.
Every glass bottle recycled saves enough energy for a 100 watt light bulb to be lit for 4 hours.
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Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild the entire commercial airline fleet every six months.
Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run your TV for 3 hours.
- Thirty-six recycled bottles can make one square yard of carpet.
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130 billion beverage containers are sent to US landfills each year.
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Recycling a 1-gallon plastic milk jug will save enough energy to keep a 100-watt bulb burning for 11 hours.
