As far as wrappers, I do know that my program does not take plastic bags, even though they are #2. When I contacted them, I was told the bags get caught in the recycling machines and cause problems. I don't know if wrappers would do the same.

Is your program run by the city/town? Can you contact your local government for info?

:)
Dee

It's pretty hard to eyeball a piece of plastic and be able to tell exactly what kind of plastic it is. Well, I can to a point, but not always, so the number on it tells the recyclers which type of plastic they're dealing with, so it can be consolidated for remanufacturing.

Kudos to them for taking so much though - our recycling pick up only takes plastics with a screw top, and plastic shopping bags - no tubs, wrappers, or anything of that sort.

I didn't think either that the numbers meant they had been recycled before. That just didn't sound right, but that is what he told me.

Up to this point I had just been throwing all plastic in there, figuring better safe than sorry and they would pick out anything that didn't belong. I hate to do that, though, it makes extra work for someone. But looking in some of the bins, I wonder why people go to the trouble of bringing their stuff if they are going to unload it the way they do. They throw the bottles in where they break, and send the beer cardboard holders with them. What I understand is that the glass can't be broken. I'm not sure why.
Thanks for the input. Julie

Hmm, I can't imagine that with the way the bins are handled by the collectors that some glass doesn't get broken. At least the collectors around here. They just swing those bins and toss everything in the truck, with no attention to the noise or the breakage, from what I can tell. I know because they usually do it about 5am and I can hear it clear as a bell, lol!

:)
Dee

As for reusing,that works well to a point,but with as much stuff as comes in plastic, you very quickly get way more than you need. Just the amount of those V8 fusion containers that get thrown in the recycle bin in a week, on top of everything else.

We got rid of reusing plastic water bottles for health and environment reasons. It is unhealthy to wash and reuse for drinking any of the "single-use" plastic containers. SO I went to a health food store, and for $1.09 a piece bought the 16 oz glass cold tea bottles full, and have been healthily reusing them for a long time. I guess until they get broken. I also bought some expensive fruit juice in glass in a half gallon container and we use those for carrying water and storing "made" drinks in the frig. Makes the lunch bag heavier, but works well. Julie

Which is really cool. The best program I saw was when I lived in Texas and they did 1-6 plastics.

Laura

I love the philosophy NY state has--paying people to recycle cans and bottles. The Wegmans in Ithaca, NY (where Ithaca College and Cornell Univ. are located) has recycling machine dropoffs when you enter the store and I believe it is 3-5 cents you get in return for a can/bottle. After you are finished loading in your recyclables, a receipt is printed for the total amount and the amount of money you earned will be deducted from your purchase at Wegmans.

Sarah

Stop Junk Mail today yourself

I did it. It worked.
I check my mail twice a month now and there is only few letters.
100 million trees are cut yearly to supply junk mail.
8 month average American spends looking at the junk mail.

http://awakening.weebly.com/stop-junk-mail.html