Look before you bin it

May 25, 200821 appreciated comments

When was the last time you recycled? Instantly recognisable, that little recycle logo is easy to spot. Give it a try next time you’re heading for the waste bin / garbage can / trash bucket.

Recylcing ~~isn’t~~ shouldn’t be difficult.

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21 appreciated comments, click here to add one

Peter Cooper

Sorry to be contrary, but it can be difficult!

I initially thought I could recycle everything with those symbols on them, only to discover our council has a laundry list of items that can and cannot be recycled. Only two different types of plastic are allowed (those with “1″ and “2″ written in the symbol) and not every plastic item has the number in the symbol.. those that do not have to be thrown away! :)

As such, the recycling logo has become useless to us. We look for the plastic identifier if it’s plastic, and we know all card and paper is okay. Everything else goes in the regular rubbish. :(

May 25th, 2008
David Airey

No need to apologise Peter. That’s a great point, and also a shame. I know that some councils here in the UK are better than others. Rather than saying, “Recycling isn’t difficult”, I’d be better to phrase it, “Recycling shouldn’t be difficult”.

May 25th, 2008
Peter Cooper

We can definitely agree on that :)

Even with the arcane restrictions, I’d say we’ve gone from 0% recycling 2 years ago (before the scheme was launched here) to about 60% recycled, which is great if everyone else is getting the same yield.

May 25th, 2008
Steve O

Hear hear! I’ve spent a lot of time convincing friends that recycling doesn’t mean you have to believe we cause global warming (I do believe we have an affect), it just makes sense to conserve resources.
The recycling services in Cambridge aren’t too bad, but anything that the council doesn’t take away I can usually recycle at the local supermarket. We must be at 80% recycling now. Feels good.

May 26th, 2008
Alex

There should be a logo for “Re-useable” then instead of recycling, we could all re-use our containers, bottles and packets, saving the energy that it takes to process the recycling.

May 26th, 2008
Rafie

Just a short one before I sit for my final exam paper. Lol~

Back in Malaysia, the government have spent a lot of money to promote the recycling campaign. But personally, I believe it didn’t get the message through. People are lack of awareness. Since I’ve been in UK for almost a year, it is totally different. People are highly civic minded. I hope to trace down what makes UK so successful in their recycling campaign. It is because there’s a lot of bottles and cans? or there’s a legislation?

Like Al-Gore used to say, “if not now, it is going to be too late”

Thank you

May 27th, 2008
Trish

I notice the UK has a cuter recycle arrow symbol than the US. We recycle, but it seems we have similar problems as areas in the UK. Neighborhood recycling services don’t take everything. In our little neighborhood they only accept certain plastics, no polystyriene, no cardboard or paper, and no metals except aluminum cans. They do take most glass. I’ve limited myself to buying glass or aluminum containers whenever possible since glass and aluminum recycle with a lot less waste than plastic and no polystyriene if at all possible. I use water filtration rather than bottled water and reuse what plastic containers and bags we do end up with as much as possible. Unlike the neighbors I only have to take my trash bin and recycle bin to the curb every other collection because we just don’t generate that much trash. If it is reusable but I don’t have a use for it, I donate to charity. Vegetable food waste goes in a compost pile and meat waste (not bones) goes to the feral animals. My biggest shame is disposable diapers. For our son’s first full year he was cloth all the way, but he eventually generated more pee than a cloth diaper could handle (the waste of water and energy to wash the diapers outweighed the waste of paper diapers themselves). We hope to potty train him very quickly. We also conserve electrical energy as much as possible. All cool flourescent bulbs, no lights on if we don’t need them, one TV, cold water to wash most clothes and line dry, hand wash dishes, etc. Trish

May 27th, 2008
LaurenMarie - Creative Curio

I really like that grocery stores have started selling the canvas bags again. I hate having to deal with 10-15 plastic bags from the store every other week! I do reuse them to line the little trashes in the bathroom and at my desk, but I always had way more than I could ever need. I took them back to the store (they have a recycle bin specifically for the plastic bags), but that was a hassle. Now I just bring my own. I even hear that in certain cities in the U.S. they are starting to charge customers if they don’t bring their own bags. At certain stores in my area, I actually get a discount for the number of my own bags I bring in!

@Trish, it’s the same way in my area where all plastics can’t be recycled. Why is that? Is it because the processing plants they are sent to don’t have the means to recycle those products? It’s rather annoying to have to always be aware of not only the recycle symbol but also the number.

LaurenMarie – Creative Curios last blog post…Come See!

May 28th, 2008
David Airey

Peter,

That’s a great increase within two years. No doubt.

Steve O,

80%? Nice going. I’m heading down Cambridge direction soon, to spend a couple of days with my girlfriends family. Never been before, so looking forward to it.

Alex,

There are a few re-usable product packages on the shelves, but not nearly enough.

Rafie,

How did the final exam go? I’m sure it’s a relief you’ve finished.

Trish,

No surprise to read about similar problem areas, especially considering the size of the States in comparison. Sounds like you’re doing a great job with your own recycling efforts!

Lauren,

Plastic bags are a big problem here too. Some stores sell them at the checkouts rather than give them away for free. This definitely puts it in your mind to bring some old ones with you, and I’d like to see more retailers do similarly. It’s going to be a long time before we see the end of them.

May 29th, 2008
Peter Sullivan

It’s better than looking to see what number plastic it is. This logo helps me out. I can never remember what number means what. And does anyone know if it is true that if you put one thing that isn’t recyclable in the recycling than they throw it all out. That’s what my roommate keeps telling me. That seems extreme.

Jun 2nd, 2008
Rafie

It is quite challenging but I believe I can get it through. Now, summer break! More time to design. Love it!

Rafie’s last 2nd blog post…Islamic Websites

Jun 3rd, 2008
David Airey

Peter,

I’m not sure about that one (councils throwing everything away if different categories are grouped together). I can imagine the mixing happens a lot though. Especially in the problem areas mentioned in earlier comments.

Jun 3rd, 2008
Gene Munro

I moved to the UK 3 years ago from Australia and i’m still amazed at how bad the recycling system works here in Glasgow. I do remember the push in 1990 by my local council to get people to recycle cans, bottles, tins, paper, PET (plastic) bottles etc at home. Even as of today I have to load any bottles i’ve aquired into my car (a carbon slap!) to an ASDA about 5 miles away. It’s really dissapointing.

Jun 4th, 2008
Trish

considering our can full of recycling is dumped into a big truck with everyone’s recycling, I can’t imagine my putting one wrong item in the can would make them throw the entire truck’s contents away. I’m sure they hire sorters.

Trish

Jun 4th, 2008
David Airey

Gene,

I’ve heard good things about the recycling system in Australia, so thanks for leaving your comparison. I hope there was a valid reason for swapping the sunshine for the rain. ;)

Trish,

Yep. I’d like to think so (about hiring sorters).

Jun 4th, 2008
Doug C.

You know, for years I didn’t give recycling a second thought, but then I lost my home and suddenly a lot of things became more relevant to me. It was kind of like Paul being knocked off his horse by the Lord – hey you, wake up!

I am no longer homeless (thanks to the good Lord and my folks) and have been recycling for about six and half years. It’s become a habit now. I have a little recycling area under the counter – plastics go here, foil there…

I realize that what it boils down to is awareness; I didn’t care about recycling before because in my mind I though What can one person do? And so I did nothing. It took loosing my home to wake me up to a lot of things, including the importance of doing one’s part for the environment.

One person can make a difference. It just takes drive and initiative. Two attributes which are sadly lacking in a large majority of people these days. Perhaps, like Paul, we could all stand to be knocked off our horse.

Jun 24th, 2008
David Airey

Doug,

Sorry to learn you lost your home. That must’ve been a tough time. Seems like you made it through, and probably as a stronger person?

Jun 24th, 2008
Doug C.

Thanks, David. I’ve been strong all my life. I was born with a rare birth defect and one of the side effects was I had no left ear; that side of my face was just as smooth as my cheek. Later when I was seven my folks took me to meet a very gifted plastic surgeon and over the course of seven years he made a new ear for me. To help raise the money for the operations the March of Dimes made me a poster child for two years.

My most vivid memory of that time was sitting in the play room at the hospital surrounded by the other kids and a few nurses as I drew things on a sketchpad. The nurses would put my drawings up on the walls and by the time I left the hospital they went all the way around the room.

Jun 24th, 2008
David Airey

Doug,

Wow, thanks for sharing that personal insight into your life. How great would it be to have those drawings to look back on?

I have very little from my childhood here in Edinburgh. Perhaps none. In saying that, I’m moving back to Ireland after the summer where my family live, and my mum keeps all sorts of things from the past.

Jun 27th, 2008
Gene Munro

Two reasons to move Trish, love AND money. Good career, great wife…..

Jan 16th, 2009
Trish

I’m not sure how to take that, Gene. ?

I did figure something out on my own however. There was a question as to why not all plastic is recyclable. Well it is true for aluminum as well. Ever try to recycle aluminum foil? It’s not done. It is because aluminum foil and some plastics are final generation. I’ve welded aluminum so I know a little heat can make a lot of aluminum just disappear. I’m sure it is the same with a lot of plastics. Polystyrene for one. Aluminum foil and polystyrene are probably made from both waste and recycled material. They’ve gone as far as they can, they are a final product and cannot be recycled or reused further. Glass, I would think, is almost infinitely recyclable.

Jan 16th, 2009