It’s fair to say that a majority of people in this country recycle in some capacity in 2013. While there is still no national law mandating recycling, a majority of state and local governments have introduced recycling programs around the country since Woodbury, NJ, became the first municipality in the United States to establish a mandated program back in the early 1970s.
While required recycling is a relatively new concept, recycling really is nothing new. People have been recycling in one way or another for thousands of years. In this country, recycling started on a large scale during World War II, when 20,000 salvage committees and 400,000 volunteers salvaged tin, rubber, aluminum, and other scraps to help the military in the war effort.
Recycling as we know it today is done for a variety of reasons. Recycling helps conserve resources, save energy, create jobs and strengthen the economy.
While we all think we know what we can and cannot recycle, there are a surprising amount of items that you’ve probably never even considered. Of course there are things that we all know recycle easily, like bottles and cans, but you may be surprised to see some of the other items on our list.
While not everything that makes the list can be thrown into your curbside recycling container, facilities do exist for recycling all of these items. You can check with GTMUA to see if an item in question can be recycled curbside or in person at their facility. Otherwise, you can visit www.earth911.com or www.1-800-recycling.com to see where recycling facilities may exist near you.
While I have done my fair share of columns about recycling, even I was surprised by some of the items that made our lists. While I am an avid recycler, and encourage everyone I meet to recycle as much as they possibly can, I have to admit there are just some things that don’t make the cut.
In some cases, facilities simply do not exist for the safe recycling of these items. In other cases, although they may seem like good candidates for recycling, materials used in the making of these items are considered hazardous materials upon disposal.
Sometimes, recycling something is actually worse for the environment. If a few bad items taint an entire bin, it may result in the whole load going into a landfill.
So where do you stack up? Are you recycling all that you can be? And what are you recycling that you shouldn’t be?
Find out now.
Recyclable Items
1. Scrap metal
2. VHS tapes
3. BBQ grills
4. Bricks
5. Old prescription bottles
6. Flip flops
7. Aluminum bottle caps
8. Ink cartridges
9. Tires
10. Old cell phones
11. Post-it notes
12. Reading glasses
13. CFL bulbs
14. Books
15. Aluminum siding
16. Oil filters
17. CDs and DVDs
18. Plates/Dishes
19. Smoke detectors
20. Legos
21. Shoes
22. Toothpaste tubes
23. Junk mail
24. Straws
25. Used gift cards
Things you should not recycle
1. Diapers
2. Napkins, tissues and paper towels
3. Styrofoam (although some shipping stores will accept them for reuse)
4. Cosmetics containers
5. Plastic bottle caps
6. Ceramics
7. Wire hangers
8. Food take-out containers
9. Aerosol cans
10. Medical waste
I hope you are doing your part. Stay tuned until next time when I find 20 things that you can reuse around your home, and 20 things that should never be reused.
that hardly refers to the vendor braking it as you stated clearly "IF YOU ACCIDENTLY BREAK IT" you were refering to a potential homeowner during the removal process. you can try all you want to twist your own words but lets be clear besides your waistline you're no Chubby Checker.
Debbie you seem to be very conflicted so let me clarify something for you so you don’t try and claim I made statements which I did not make. I really do not care what political affiliation you are. I never said you did say what affiliation you have if any. I can see how your posts show you despise the democrats and I understand why you would not admit to being a republican. That said I think it’s a bit insolent for you to think I care what party affiliation you are. It will not make me sleep better or more uneasy knowing what party you back. All I care about is when you make a statement and claim it is a fact, I expect you to be honest. If you’re not there are many people on here who will correct you. I am but only one of them. You seem to think when someone points out your deceit that they are bulling you, that is just not true. I know you don’t like being corrected and I feel bad that so many people continue to do that to you but maybe if you start being honest in your posts, people will not have to waste their time correcting your deceptive remarks.
Now Debbie I know it does not serve your ignorance well to read a persons entire comment before you try and twist it and manipulate it but for those of us that are not mentally challenged here is the entire comment as it was originally written before you decided you were going to continently ignore half of it: "It should also be known that there nothing in any law preventing a citizen from personally taking a bulb, they feel could be a problem, to the appropriate recycling facility themselves, do you? We have one right here at the public works building." Anyone with an IQ over 4 can see I was referring to all Township residence when I said "WE have one right here" Keep trying Debbie you could earn your Scooby snack one day.
Chubby Checker...I get it, Andre. I'm surprised it took you so long to go personal. Although you did go personal on Debbie quite a bit sooner. Take some time off, grow up, and then come back when you can string two thoughts together in a more cohesive manner. Thanks for the entertainment.
Debbie, how can you expect anyone to understand or believe you when you do not know how to express yourself coherently? Hey Debbie, now that last sentence actually was a question, "click."
I think it is so funny that she lies so much she can't even keep her word about ignoring me, "Click." Lol, Hey Paul, now that's sarcasm. Much different then that fictitious scenario you tried to pass off as sarcasm.
How many Republicans does it take to screw in a light bulb? Only four, and one Radical to tell them which way to turn!!!