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Congrats on completing the first week of challenges to reduce your plastic use! Hopefully, this has been a week of discovery and planning for everyone in your household. Next up is figuring out how to manage your garbage and recycling.
If you have read my plastic problem blog posts (part 1 and part 2), you will recall that China is no longer recycling for us and other countries are not able to pick-up the slack. We have to make sure that our own country is responsible for the waste we create. Unfortunately, at this point in the United States, we do not have the infrastructure to handle the amount of plastic waste we are producing. Only 5% of all plastic that was tossed in 2021 was recycled! So if we aren’t recycling, where is all that plastic going? There are only a few options: the landfill, incineration, our waterways, or the side of the road. Therefore, your overall goal is to reduce the amount of plastic that you are throwing away AND recycling.
This next week is all about how to set yourself up to manage any waste that you are not able to eliminate at this time. I know you are probably really excited to get to the part where you actually stop using plastic things, but hang tight. That is coming really soon. I promise if you get yourself set up, it will be so much easier in the long run. With the small changes over the next few weeks I think you will start to see both your garbage and recycling bins get less full.
Today’s challenge: We all hope that what we put in our blue bins will be recycled, but do you really know EXACTLY what is accepted in your municipality? You need to find out. This assignment may require a call to your village office to find out who the recycling company is and then another call or visit to the website of the company. Find out which number plastics can be recycled as well as the smallest size item that is accepted and if items need to be washed out. If you take recyclables to a facility than get a listing of accepted items from them. Once you know what can be recycled, share with your family and post it near your recycling bins. Is there anything that you are surprised to find is not recyclable at your curbside?
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