Your Questions About Recycling

The Expert answers:

Look up waste management companies in your area and many have recycling centers that take a variety of things like empty shampoo bottles, food containers, glass bottles, news papers, corrugated paper, cans, milk jugs, maybe plastic bags.

Instead of using plastic grocery bags though, you can buy the reusable ones.

The Expert answers:

What an odd question.

My municipality requires me to use clear uncoloured plastic bags for both garbage and recycling. I use small bags in the kitchen, and since the city only collects garbage every 2 weeks (they alternate garbage and recycling), I collect usually about 4 small kitchen bags (grocery bag size) into one big clear bag to set out at the curb. Since we must recycle and compost (by municipal law), there is not a lot that goes in the regular trash. Sometimes I miss a garbage day so it is a month before it gets picked up, but since there is no food inside, it doesn’t smell and makes little difference.

I tie each bag by hand, not with twist ties. I take opposite corners and tie them together, then tie the loose ends left together over the first knot to make a double knot which acts like a handle and seals the bag well.

More info than you wanted, I am sure! 🙂

ps….. The stores all get several brands of these bags in special since we are all required to use them.

The Expert answers:

All plastic bags are waste unless there is a recycling facility near you. But its not as much as some of the others suggest.
The UK produces about 335million tonnes of waste. Domestic waste stream is 9% of this – of which plastic bags are about 0.3% of the domestic waste stream.

See links:
http://www.millionbags4life.com/environment.asp
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wed/campaign/pledges/Bag/?version=1
http://www.recyclenow.com/what_more_can_i_do/reducing_your_rubbish/its_in_the_bag.html
http://www.wrap.org.uk/
http://www.wrap.org.uk/retail/news_events/news/move_by_tesco_to.html
http://www.wrap.org.uk/retail/news_events/news/choose_to.html
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/localenv/plasticbags/index.htm#reuse
http://www.defra.gov.uk/ENVIRONMENT/WASTE/topics/plastics.htm
http://www.incpen.org/pages/userdata/incp/PCBFS.pdf

It would be a fair assumption that this is similar in other countries with similar economies. Others, I don’t know.

Hope all this helps!!

The Expert answers:

The accelerating volume of reusable bags being imported and resold, along with the 2008 Wall Street Journal article, An Inconvenient Bag, that documented that only 10% of bags are actually being reused [6] raise statistical questions about their effectiveness and the possibility that these heavier bags have become the new disposable bag.

Reusable bags have become increasingly popular and are seen in many types of stores- from online to major department stores. You may already have one, or a few, that you use on a daily basis. If you’ve entertained the idea of using one and just haven’t done it yet, you’re not alone. The next time you have the opportunity to buy a reusable bag, consider all of the benefits of using one.

Reusable bags are more durable than plastic bags
At some point, you’ve probably had the experience of carrying items, seeing a small tear in the plastic bag that turned into a big gash and worrying that your items were going to end up falling out all over the place. Reusable bags are usually made of strong materials that will hold the weight of what you’re carrying. Also, if you are carrying something heavy, the weight of the reusable bag is less likely to dig into your hand like a plastic bag would.

Reusable bags can fit more into it than a plastic bag
If you’ve ever tried to fit a lot of items into a plastic bag, it probably didn’t turn out very well. There’s a good chance that everything overflowed or the bag broke before you got a chance to put even most of it in. Reusable bags can hold much more, and comfortably, without any strain on the bag at all.

They’re not as deadly to animals as plastic bags
There are people that use plastic bags that have no qualms about tossing them into the water, onto the street or into the trash. Some animals then ingest them or the bags get stuck inside and the animal dies. Chances are if you have a reusable bag, you’re not going to treat it like a plastic bag and just toss it away. If you use a reusable bag, you keep plastic bags out of the way of innocent animals.

Reusable bags are more stylish
You can find one to match any outfit that you’re wearing for the day from basic black to bright pink. Plastic bags are plain and usually carry the logo of the location that you got it from. Instead of carrying a simple, boring bag, consider carrying a reusable bag that can be an extension of your outfit for the day.

They’re more Earth friendly than plastic bags.
It takes quite a bit of natural resources to make plastic bags. Not only is their beginning not Earth friendly, but when you throw them into the garbage they end up sitting in the landfill. Others end up tossed on the street to litter the ground and the water. Reusable bags can be washed and used over and over again.

The next time you have the option to buy a reusable bag, pick one up and give it a try. You may never end up using plastic bags again.

Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/environment/green-living/articles/13792.aspx#ixzz14nnmXQ8A

The Expert answers:

I put the recycle garbage for money before they are collected.

The Expert answers:

I’m in VA. Our recycling picks up newspapers, cardboard, junkmail, catalogs, magazines, phone books, cans, foil, plastic, glass. I think you can take different metals (copper, siding etc, maybe wood) and probably glass and things like that, somwhere to be recycled or to sell.
We have so little trash we cancelled our trash pickup which saves money & save money from not having to buy garbage bags as often. We make a trip to the dump, once every couple months, or less.

I remember being younger and we had to take the recyclbles to the recycling place. They took newspapers, but not the glossy part, they had to be tied up, etc. The glass had to be sorted by color, and all the recycling sorted from each other.

Now it is so convienant. Here it’s free, they give you a bin (or two) free and they come once every two weeks. They mail you the schedule in January. There is no sorting, you don’t even have to wash anything out, or remove the labels, just the lids. I recycle everything I can. I mean everything. It it cuts down on our trash, and it makes me feel better about not having so much garbage.

Next year we are going to plant a bigger garden, and have a compost bin, so, even less trash and spend less $$$ at the grocery store!!!

I was wondering the same thing as someone else mentioned. Like they want you to recycle, but it isn’t offered everywhere. I may drive to take it somewhere, but some people won’t, or not if it’s too far. And those bins they give us are so small. Are you limiting the amount you want me to recycle? That’s stupid. Why can’t I use a regular trash can? I fill it up. Here it’s free. It is that way everywhere?? Can you tell people they HAVE to? Make the regualr trash pick-up come less often? Run more recycling trucks and less trash trucks? Why aren’t the “rules” universal? It seems like where I live they take a lot compared to some of the other places posted. I’m sure what it is, is that there aren’t facilities to handle every kind of the (recycle) trash in every city/state, but why not? Would that make more sense than another dump?

The Expert answers:

Most plastic bags are made from # 4 LDPE or Low Density Polyethylene.

Plastic bags aren’t always the best to recycle since they can contain a lot of contaminents that can make them hard to recycle. Bags that are brought to grocery store to be recycled makes it easier. Especially if you have a bunch that are wadded up. It’s also good if you re-use them once or twice. My mom uses them for garbage bags in the small bathroom garbage cans. So she is reducing and re-using, both of which are of higher importance than recycling. I sometimes use them for void filling when packing presents at Christmas. That’s better than buying paper void fill. And I also use them to cushion stuff like glasses whenever I move.

When they are recycled they are melted down. Usually the plastic is first collected. Then it is chopped up and often washed. After it is chopped and washed it goes through what is called an extruder. The extruder is basically a screw type device that slowly moves the plastic through it and heats it up to a certain temperature that it melts at. If the plastic gets too hot, then it will burn. If it’s not hot enough then it won’t melt. The screw device feeds the chopped up plastic through a tube with electric heaters along the tube to get melted then pushes the melted plastic out the end through holes that basically make the melted plastic coming out look like spaghetti. As the plastic comes out in spaghetti like strings it is chopped into little beads. These beads cool and are normally collected into large bins.

Those beads can then be mixed with other virgin plastic beads to create new bags or other products. Some beads will have dye added to them. Normally a new bag will contain about 10-20% recycled material. The more times a product is recycled the weaker the material gets, especially with paper. By mixing different types of beads they can get the type of plastic they want.

To make new bags, those beads get fed into a hopper. If say they want to make an orange bag they’ll add a few orange beads to the plastic mix. Normally the recycled content isn’t too high because recycled bags consist of all different colors and could change the color of the bag. That hopper full of beads goes through the same type of screw machine to heat up and melt the plastic again. But this time instead of melting the plastic into spaghetti like strings and chopping it, it goes through a head that forms the plastic into a thin tube type of bubble. A small amount of air pressure is placed inside the tube to controle the tube size and thickness of the plastic film. The plastic cools and hardens in the tube then goes over several rollers and gets wound up on a roll. That roll of plastic tube film is then transferred to another machine that chops the plast to certain lengths. To make plastic sheeting it is also cut to certain withs. For bags though it is normally only cut lengthwise then it is sealed at the bottom with a hot metal wire that cuts and seals the bottom. Or one wire may be used to cut and another is used to seal a little higher.

As far as the bags not degrading in a landfill for millions of years, that is not particularly true to an extent. Many bags and bottles have organic pieces added to the plastic. The organic pieces added to the plastic allow the plastic to break up into tiny pieces. The organic pieces are made to degrade by either sunlight, oxygen, or microbes. This is so the bags don’t leave unsightly debris alongside roadsides and stuff for years when people throw them out of their cars.

The Expert answers:

I recycle everything possible! I get a $7 rebate on my trash collection charges because I recycle. I save a lot of money by reusing and recycling, and it really impacts my finances in a positive way. My old roommate taught me how to recycle, and then she taught me how to reuse everything. My next door neighbor finally asked me how I manage to hardly ever use my trash can, and I told her that I do this:
1.) If it is recycleable, it never goes in the garbage at my house. I recycle everything.
2.) If I can reuse it, I always do.
* Jars with lids are used for holding nuts, bolts, screws, nails, garden seeds, drinking “glasses”, “watering containers”, “vases” or to hold pet or human dry food so that mice and other pests cant get in it.
* Newspapers line my birds cages and are then composted with the poo. Newspapers are also torn up and used as bedding for my elderly rat.
* Plastic containers with lids are used as “tupperware”. I wash my ziplock bags and reuse them, and even plastic utensils.
* Grocery bags are re-used for trash bags or recycling containers, which I then never have to buy, and often used as poop pick up bags for walking the dog. I also use them to put food inside, twist close and use as “freezer bags”.
3.) If it can be composted, I compost it: coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells, vegetable and fruit scraps, weeds, garden waste, bird cage papers, rat and rabbit “litter” – anything organic goes into the compost bin that I built out of 5 discarded wooden pallets.
4.) If I dont want it, but it can still be used, I wash it and give it away. This goes for clothing, furniture, dishes, toys and everything else I own that can be re-used. I post free things on www.craigslist.com because someone else always needs them.
5.) I don’t buy a lot of excessive “things”. When I buy clothing or other items used, then I save money and save them from the landfill. I therefore don’t end up with a lot of packaging materials in my home. Almost all of my furniture is used, much of it I’ve personally refinished / painted, or “dumpster dived” from the alleyway, or received from other people. I’m only directly responsible for a couple pieces of furniture, like my mattress.
6.) I feed my vegetable and bread scraps (as species appropriate) as treats to my rabbits, bird, rat and dog. They all love fresh food that will go bad before I’ll eat it, and they can often digest things that human can’t.

The Expert answers:

It goes in the blue bin spearate the cans and bottles in a separate blue bin

plastic and wrapper bags are mainly not recylable

if your city has a garbage pickup just put it in the correct bins e.g. Red bin for cans and bottles
and blue bin for paper and other recycle

make sure it is organized and does not have any garbage they would not take it
also if your city has a composting program use a green bin for all organic materials and foods