Recycling 101

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We know most of our readers recycle, but for those that don’t (you know who you are) here’s a basic recycling primer to show you how easy and how little time it takes. We’ll follow up this article with Beyond Recycling 101.

Set up a paper bag or bin in your home for each of the following products below. Remember to rinse all food containers and be sure to check with your local transfer or recycling station for their rules.

Aluminum
Soft drink and other beverage cans are recyclable as well as food cans. Step on them to save space in your recycling bin.

Plastic
Milk jugs, other plastic beverage containers such as yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. as well as plastic take out containers from restaurants. When in doubt look at the bottom of the container for the recycling symbol. (Some lids are not recyclable).

Glass
All glass containers may be recycled. Rinse them out and remove the metal lids.

Paper Products
Newspapers and all inserts are recyclable.
Both magazines and home shopping catalogs are recyclable.
Any cardboard or cardboard packaging.
Junk mail, phone books, envelopes, pretty much any and all paper/cardboard unless it has a large amount of food on it.

Still not convinced to give it a try? Think about this:

130 billion beverage containers are sent to US landfills each year.

Recycling a 1-gallon plastic milk jug will save enough energy to keep a 100-watt bulb burning for 11 hours.

If you don’t recycle, tell us why in the comments section below or in our forums. And if you do, share with us the things you recycle that others might not  think about.