Recycling Everything You Can
One of the big benefits of recycling is that it reduces the volume of trash going to the landfill. This in turn reduces the volume of gasses emitted from the decaying trash in a landfill. It has been calculated that a 4 person household that recycles all newspapers, magazines, aluminum, steel, plastic and glass, can reduce its volume of waste by over 40%.
Recycling has become easier with curbside pickup in most communities. There are limitations, however. In our area, of all the plastic people use, they can only recycle plastic containers, and then only those with an opening smaller than the main part of the container. So we can recycle most plastic bottles, but no yogurt or cottage cheese containers, and no other types of plastic.
There are also limitations to recycling caused by the cost of processing the products to be recycled. Right now there is no easy way to recycle compact florescent bulbs or batteries. If you have a rechargeable battery, that has is dead, most places where you can buy a replacement will take the old battery for recycling. If you want to recycle your alkaline batteries as recommended, you need to collect them and take them somewhere that you can deposit them.
Right now it costs more to recycle alkaline batteries than can be recovered by selling or reusing the material in the batteries. As I wrote in an earlier post, the Big Green Box program is a step in the right direction, but it is still very limited in its availability. Additionally, because recycling alkaline batteries does not pay for itself, the Big Green Box costs $58.00. The box has a 40-pound capacity, and measures 13″W X 13″L X 8.5″H. Because of the cost, the box is usually found only in a few businesses. To find out if a business near you participates in the program, visit the Big Green Box website.
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