Earth Day recycling tips

Plastic bags are the bane of workers at City Carton Recycling in Cedar Rapids.

But during a tour this week of their site at 901 Ingleside Dr., we saw plastic grocery bags in every load that was dumped there. The problem with bags, as well as ropes, Christmas light strands and electric cords, is that they get tangled in the equipment. Workers have to shut down their equipment completely, which wastes quite a bit of time, in addition to being a safety hazard, and then untangle the offending bag from the machinery.

I've mentioned this before, but was amazed at how many people ignore that piece of advice. So on behalf of our good buddy Alan Schumacher, City Carton's facility manager, I'll repeat his message: don't toss plastic bags in your curbside recycling bins. If you go to City Carton's site, there are special bins for plastic bags outside and many grocery stores also offer a spot where you can recycle the bags. Just don't put them in your curbside bins.

During our tour, I also had the chance to quiz Alan on the minutiae of recycling and learned what to do with lids.  Many plastic lids have a recycling symbol on them, but I thought, using our single-stream recycling, that we were supposed to throw away the lids and recycle the plastic containers. Turns out I was partially right. Small lids end up falling through the sorting machinery and don't get recycled. Larger lids, such as ones from margarine containers, usually make it through.

Alan suggested emptying out your water bottle or whatever container you're recycling, then screwing the lid back on before putting it in your recycling bin. Emptying is another key. It's unbelievable what (I'll put it nicely) “stuff” people throw in the bins. If you have a peanut butter jar, yogurt container, etc., clean it out. One tour of the site and if you haven't already been doing so, you'd quickly change your ways. Think of the worker on the other end of your bin.

For 40 more Earth Day green living tips,  go here: 

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