By Steve Davies, Healthy Planet Columnist
So, I would say that I used to think when recycling plastic, the numbers made sense and in fact, made it easier for everyone. Products made of plastic would have a number on them and then you would find a bin with that number to put it in. That however, isn’t usually the case.
Now back in the day (yet again) when your local recycling center was the only place to drop off your plastics, it was just number’s 1 and 2 and it was simple. Fast forward to today and it’s a whole different world.
If I’m being honest, I would say that “plastics would have a number and then you would just find a bin to put it in” is truly naïve. Naïve it a two-part sort of way. The first part is, plastics aren’t that simple. While the number’s 1 & 2 are popular, many things these days are made out of plastics as well, like 4, 5, 6 and even 7 from what I can see.
In addition, plastic isn’t just used for bottles. They’re used for bags used to contain a wide range of items at any store in addition to the shopping bags they give you, along with wrapping used to sell you sets of the same item in the store (i.e. tissues or toilet paper).
The second part here, curbside recycling, actually seems like a good thing, when in fact, it’s not necessarily so. What it does actually is it creates other problems. Those bins come with limited directions, which truthfully would probably require a small book to cover all the questions that consumers have. Things like “should I use a plastic bag to hold items I’m putting in the bin” and “what items are in fact, not recyclable”.
Now in addition to those numbers 1 through 7, there are other numbers to consider like the fact that 25% of Americans live in cities without a recycling program, the amount of plastic that actually gets recycled is around 5% while nearly 70% of our plastic was shipped to China until they banned it.
So, with all this said, what do you do? Well, the best thing you can do is eliminate plastics. I know that sounds hard but, there are small things you can do. As for myself, I look for products I use that come in glass instead of plastic like juice or many of the amenities our family enjoys like mustard and mayonnaise. I also choose toilet paper that is wrapped in paper packaging. I also, of course, use my own bags.
So, while it may not seem like a lot, if we all do it, it adds up to a lot. After all, we’re all in this together. Tell your friends and maybe they’ll tell their friends. Also, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me.
For questions or comments please email me at thprecycler@yahoo.com