How careful are you about recycling what's recyclable?

Where I live, the rules are set by the local council. I try very hard to follow the rules. I err on the side of caution though as I worry that if I put something in that is wrong it will contaminate the whole lot. For example dirty plastic bottles. I know these can be recycled but if they are food contaminated, I’m not sure that they can be dealt with. So I put these in the general bin if I can’t get them clean

No plastic bags or plastic film.
No pizza boxes
No plastic bottles used for cooking oil.
No plastic bottles used for motor oil.
Nothing that has held anything hazardous.

We put the following in the single recycle container for recycling on “trash” pick-up day.
All plastics marked 1 through 7, all paper and cardboard. Rinsed bottles either plastic or glass. Rinsed cans.

All trash goes in a separate container

Not at all. Landfills will be prime real estate for mining resources someday.

I’m pretty careful, but not as much as I probably could be. I try to buy products that are in glass or have minimal packaging, and bring my own refillable beverage bottles instead of buying bottles or cans whenever possible.

Our community recycling doesn’t require separation, which is convenient; but they only take 1-PETE and 2-HDPE, which leaves out yogurt cups (5) and plastic shopping bags (4). Granted, I bring my bags to the market, including reusable cloth produce bags, but sometimes I forget them (I’ll get paper if they have it), or I get the bags from other shops, so they still accumulate and then I forget to bring them to the store to leave in the bin there.

I put all our junk mail in recycling (accepted by our community) and all paper – cereal and tissue boxes, rolls from toilet paper, flyers and pamphlets handed out at events, shoe boxes, the paper from packaging from any products we buy (even the price tags on clothes), etc.

The samples you give are mostly not on the plastics that our community recycling takes, so those do end up in the trash. I tried to get my cats toys made out of natural materials so they will be biodegradable. I try to avoid junk, clutter, and tchotchkes not only because they’ll wind up as landfill, but because many of those knick-knacks are made in places where there are no labor or safety regulations. I try to vote with my dollars, because that means more than a vote in the ballot box in our current system.

Well, I have educated myself on what is and isn’t recyclable. I wish the county had a website where you can ask if, for example, zip lock bags are recyclable. When they say “No plastic bags,” they’re referring to the Walmart bags. They can’t see what’s in the bag so they have to open. AND the bags get hung up on the sorting. So, would a zip lock bag be recyclable?

No lids from, for example, 2 liter bottles. However, the lids on those are a different type of plastic. But I try to use my common sense. If I throw out a container that has a snap on lid, and the lid seems to be the same kind of plastic as the container, I put it in recycle.

@Tropical_Willie our county says you can recycle pizza boxes if they haven’t been contaminated by the pizza.

@Dutchess_III I understand the greasy boxes – - but people tend to think, “well that’s not a lot of GREASE”. But that just botches up the recycling.

Not really, I worked in a paper mill that used 100% recycled paper. The pulper and detrashers took care of everything with ease.

I recycle everything that can be recycled. I even use two different drop off locations to minimize what goes into the garbage.

I do it halfway. At home I put about 50% of papers and boxes into recycle. About 20% of the plastics I use. I keep my plastic to a pretty good minimum though. I use my own reusable insulated grocery bags 80% of the time. I don’t buy a lot of drinks in plastic bottles.

When I’m out I use the recycle bins whenever available.

Paper, plastic and metal is recycled. The SO purchased a compost bin, so we use that a lot. The local grocery store accepts dead batteries for recycling. The local wine shop accepts used corks and does something crafts-like with them.

Last year after Mom died, I volunteered to clear out her house. It was a learning experience about what “recycling” opportunities there are. The local garden club welcomed all of the flower vases and plant pots; the library accepted unwanted books; a friend who knew someone in a sewing group took all of the yarn, material, buttons, etc. All of the greeting cards were donated to the assisted living home Mom had resided in, along with any board games and jigsaw puzzles. Used pantyhose can be repurposed for the stuffing inside of handmade pet toys.

Another friend who owns a vintage/crafts shop and picked out items that I thought would have to be hauled to the dump. One was a large stack of old records. She knows someone who turns them into bowls. An old rake similar to this can be used to hang wine glasses. I don’t recall what else she asked for and took, but it was all stuff that no one else wanted and wasn’t worth anything to collectors.

The list goes on. It’s just a matter of investing the time to find out what items are valuable to others.

Why are we not to include lids from water bottles in the recycle bin?

I’m lucky enough to live somewhere that has an excellent recycling program. I am pretty darn diligent about recycling. They make it easy for me to be.