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Recycling is one of the easiest and most important things you can do to be green. But that doesn't mean you can recycle everything. You might know this, if you’ve ever received a note on your empty bin after a pickup day issuing a no-no on a certain item you included in your recyclables. But even if you haven't, chances are you're including some item in your batch that isn't eligible for curbside recycling. So what's the big deal?
Well, it's certainly not the biggest threat to the ecosystem to include too many supposed recyclables—but it does cause a hassle for your friendly neighborhood recycling team. Making them sort through your reusable disposables costs them precious time—and hence, less recycling gets done.
For instance, things like plastic zip-lock bags, cardboard contaminated with food remnants (hello, almost-empty pizza box), and household items like CDs often cannot be effectively recycled in many curbside programs.
Thankfully, it's an easy mistake to correct—check your city or state's recycling guidelines (just Google "[your city here] recycling guidelines") to figure out what to leave out. And don't just toss the odd junk out—you probably can recycle it somewhere else. For instance there are other ways to do recycle stuff like film and plastic bags. Just keep an eye on the guidelines.
Hankering for a home makeover? Manifest your green American Dream with tips from Planet Green TV's Greenovate.
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