What We Can Recycle

Ryan Oh
Recycling. An option that all of us can directly take that, supposedly, shouldn’t be very hard to do. I mean, so often we are told to recycle what we can, but of those times how many resulted in the recycling of un-recyclable items? Yes, recycling technology has been improved upon, and now we have a wider array of recyclable options, however there are still many items that are thought to be recyclable but are not.
For example, plastic bags. Yes, these can be recycled it’s just how we recycle them. By gathering recyclables in plastic bags or recycling the baggies in general, we cause problems for recycling equipment resulting in jams, contamination of paper bales, and interference in compost facilities. What we can do to prevent plastic bags from becoming our demise is to give them to recycling programs that focus exclusively on them. Oftentimes, grocery stores offer plastic bag pick-up and drop-off programs. If you don’t have such a grocery store near you, keep a bag collection bin in your house and store all of them in a single place. The bags, then, can be reused at grocery stores or used for another purpose around the house. These bags have many other functions other than JUST carrying groceries.
Although plastic bags mainly deal with how we recycle there are still many items that we try to recycle via curbside but are not able to be recycled such as: pizza boxes, juice boxes, milk cartons, styrofoam (probably), batteries, any electronics, and especially hazardous waste. It is essential to take the proper precautions when disposing of these hazardous items, and to do so in the proper way in your community. If not handled correctly they can harm water quality, wildlife, and human health. Here in Flower Mound, proper recycling of hazardous materials can be done right at your front doorstep. All you have to do is call Republic Services at 817-317-2000 and they will come pick it right up.
Even if you may try recycle, the effort doesn’t really matter unless the recycling process is done properly. All it takes is a little effort to looking into the proper recyclables, and the end result can be drastic.
So, what are some things that you recycle but may not be recyclable? What are some ways you can reuse a plastic bag at home? What are some ways we can inform the public of properly recycling? Even if proper education is given, is recycling the right way even feasible?



Comments

Anonymous said…
Even if someone does choose the option of getting plastic bags from the store there are many ways to reuse it. For example, my mom always likes to store items inside of the grocery bags we get from the store, and she also uses them as a form of a trash bag at times. I do feel as if grocery stores should focus on making recyclable bags the only option other than the reusable. People are lazy, and if they don’t have to pay extra they'll take what they can get. Biodegradable materials should be used for the better good of everyone. Something that I didn’t know that couldn’t be recycled was bubble wrap.
March 8, 2019 at 7:41 AM
Anonymous said…
Recycling is something that you might as not try if you aren’t going to do it right because many things cannot be recycled, and if they are, it makes it more difficult for the recycling plants. Just informing yourself one time on what can and cant be recycled would make recycling a lot easier in the future. And if you aren’t sure, many items have a recycling symbol on them if they can be recycled. We must not forget about the other two r’s! We can start our efforts by reducing the items that we have. If you drink water a lot, get a nice water bottle that you can use over and over rather than constantly throwing away plastic water bottles. In the long run, it is cheaper and your water will stay cold longer! Additionally, if you must use something made of paper or plastic, do your best to reuse it. Like in the article, if you have plastic bags from the store, save them. They are good for other things than just a one time trip home from the grocery store. One thing I like is at Costco they do not give you grocery bags, they put everything in the cardboard boxes that shipments came in. When recycling, do not forget to clean out the dirty items so that they can be recycled and they do not mess up other things that were recycled.
March 8, 2019 at 7:48 AM
Anonymous said…
I think having community recycling programs is the perfect way to inform and educate people on recycling while also recycling (Duh). Strong community recycling programs can contribute to a healthy, united community. Some of the many benefits of recycling are the prevention of greenhouse gases and supporting local economies by creating jobs and tax revenue. Recycling programs can also help to improve water and air quality and are building blocks for sustainable growing communities. With all of these benefits, how could we not incorporate something like this. If we recycle correctly and frequently, our recycle problems will be solved and the world can become better than it was yesterday.
March 8, 2019 at 7:51 AM
Anonymous said…
Although the United States makes efforts to recycle, it is very true that most of its citizens don’t know how to properly do it. I never learned what is actually recyclable, just a general idea. I think that it is important for the United States to implament within the education a lesson on what is and isn’t recyclable. This would allow a shift throughout the United States while dealing with recycling while also raising awareness. My family currently saves all of our plastic bags to contribute to the effort. Instead of using plastic bags, we use reusable bags for groceries and other purposes. Recently, countries like Indonesia have shifted to using biodegradable materials to create bags that are dispersed at grocery stores. When exposed to water, these bags melt as to not harm sea life or the enviorment. The U.S should look into this practice as well and encourage businesses to start using this product.
March 15, 2019 at 3:00 PM
Anonymous said…
I think the most important thing about this recycling problem is that we must teach them how to do them properly. Like how Ms. Dixie talked to us about the ways of recycling, if we do not properly recycle, it could cause difficulties for the recycling factories. Also I believe the Recycling Community is something that is very effecient and amazing. For an example, in Korean residency in South Korea, they have weekly recycling programs where people come out and recycle them one by one. If we continue to put our effort in, I think we will be able to contribute in saving this Earth and creating a better environment not only for us but also for the species living in nature.
March 18, 2019 at 10:41 AM
Anonymous said…
Working in a grocery store, seeing the amount of plastic bags being utilized as opposed to the paper bags is astronomical. The paper ones can hold more and are better environmentally but is still shunned upon when asked. Another option would be to bring your own bags because some people will ask for a bag and throw it away before they even leave the store. At sprouts, they implemented a policy that gave a discount of five cents per bag you bring to give an incentive. It’s the best choice in my opinion because its more ergonomic in terms of saving money and space as they hold almost everything a person could buy in the store without any issue. These options were made as a result of people not recycling the plastic bags and we need to bring more awareness. Us at the United States are basically frauds in the bigger picture. The reason for that is that we may say to recycle but without proper teaching, the public are misinformed and have a false sense of understanding.
March 18, 2019 at 10:56 AM
Anonymous said…
I have recycled empty pizza boxes on occasion, and clearly this is a problem I should deal with. Figuring out which items to recycle and how to recycle them correctly will take a little effort but can be done. Since entering APES, I have learned a lot about how to recycle correctly and the effects of recycling. At my house, we reuse plastic bags as a recycling bag, and we don’t throw the plastic bags into the recycling bin. We also use it for carrying items. This blog is a great way to inform the public about properly recycling. Utilizing social media is another great way to spread the information of recycling correctly. Recycling the right way is definitely better than throwing things that aren’t recylable into the recycling bin.
March 18, 2019 at 5:43 PM
Anonymous said…
I feel like people should try to reuse their plastic bags, but often times they rip and wear down which results in people recycling them improperly. Plastic bag drop off and pick up systems should be expanded, as they would become very convenient for people who do not want to save old plastic bags. If these programs are expanded proper recycling will definitely be feasible, which would benefit the environment and the stores themselves. Lastly, i just don't think that recycling is being taught about enough in education. If people go a long part of their life without recycling properly, it will be very hard to get them to change their habits.
March 18, 2019 at 6:34 PM
Anonymous said…
In my opinion, its really about human behavior. By this I mean that most people have the resources to recycle but simply choose not to due to laziness or indifference towards the environment. However, I believe that no matter whether or not a person is educated on how to properly recycle, everyone should be responsible for being role models and create a trend of recycling. If we can encourage the public to recycle, we may be able to create a society where people are aware of their environment and how to properly maintain its health through recycling.
March 19, 2019 at 10:25 AM
Anonymous said…
Everyone knows that plastic bags are harmful to the environment, but we can eliminate the problem at the source: grocery stores. Bringing your own bags from home may seem like a nuisance, but it’s actually really easy once you remember to. Stick a couple of your own bags in the trunk of your car and you’re good to go, even if you just want to stop by a store to buy a few things. If you forget or leave the bags in your car, try to use paper bags instead of plastic. These can be recycled more easily or even reused a lot more. In addition, you can recycle plastic bags, but this will take longer to recycle so try to get rid of using them altogether. The first step in eliminating waste is reducing, then reusing, and finally recycling.
March 19, 2019 at 11:39 AM
Anonymous said…
Plastic bags are actually just the single dumbest invention by humanity. I mean who thought to invent a large single use plastic that’s an incredible pain to dispose of? They’re so flimsy as it is that trying to reuse them is almost impossible. Recycling was supposed to be the grand solution to waste, but the process is so misunderstood by most Americans that it’s not as effective as it could be. I would really like to see more education on the importance of recycling. If we all work together with the system, then we could increase the effectiveness of recycling.
March 19, 2019 at 11:41 AM
Anonymous said…
Recycling is something we are taught to do but I don't think we have been educated on what can be recycled and what can not. I feel that we must bring more awareness to the topic. We also forget that before we try to recycle something we must try to reuse it. Plastic bags are harmful to the environment but since they are very useful and cheap it is hard to get rid of them, therefore we should try to reuse them. My mom stores them for trash bags for the small trashes. She also has one to put in all the peels from fruits to make compost. I thin we must teach people to reuse.
March 19, 2019 at 7:29 PM
Anonymous said…
Reusing items, including clothing, is crucial to sustainability. Sending items to be recycled does help, but often times those things can’t be recycled and end up in a landfill. Giving away or selling things you don’t want, using crockery bags as trash bags, and creating pencil holders out of old containers are just a few easy ways you can help. Another critical thing that should be included clearly in an easy to read and understandable form is a guide of what can be recycled. Many items have a very small logo somewhere saying they are recycle able, but many people, including myself, don’t even notice it. Recycling should also be the first option. Right now, when we have an item to dispose of, our first instinct is to throw it in the trash without considering whether or not it’s is recycleable. This must change if we are to create a sustainable form of living.
March 19, 2019 at 7:30 PM
Anonymous said…
Sustainable behavior must contain the three R’s reuse, reduce and recycle. A great idea would be making sure that the items you want to recycle are recyclable, this is important because a big problem is that a lot of things cannot be recycled and many individuals are unaware of this. Once you check that your item can be recycable then go ahead and recycle it! Whatever cannot be recycleled, give it away or resell it. Reusing is such a good idea in order to make the industry sustainable. And of course, reducing, we should all reduce as much as possible to make sure sustainability occurs.
March 20, 2019 at 10:26 AM
Anonymous said…
Firstly, people need to understand the importance of recycling in order to take initiative and contribute to recycling. For example, in my own household we take recycling, gardening, having a compost box, etc. seriously but it was not always like that. Our neighborhood did not always pick up recycling and when it did it was not often. Once the homeowners association gave houses recycling bins, people took initiative. Recycling’s importance has to be learned through implementation. Even though we learn about recycling in school and how to increase recycling, I feel as though a major solution to the problem would be reducing trash in the first place. This can be done through purchasing less packaged products overall or even eating healthier as healthier foods inherently have natural packaging or better packaging. In essence, recycling has importance and communities need to understand that and take action.
March 20, 2019 at 11:29 AM
Amogh Gokhale said…
Recycling is a way for us to feel like we are helping with reducing waste, and that sometimes may be true. More often than not however, most of what many people recycle ends up in a waste plant anyway, because of small things, such as food residue, or plastic bags getting stuck. This is why a new program for recycling "technically" recyclable goods should be developed.
March 21, 2019 at 5:08 AM
Anonymous said…
It is embarrassing to say but until I took this class, I didn’t know that some materials I have been recycling were not recyclable. For example, I thought all papers were recyclable and milk/juice cartons were recyclable because my elementary school would always make us recycle it with paper. Also, plastic bags, my family thought it was not recyclable so we have been using it as a trash bag. For informing the public of properly recycling, we can post a sign above recycling bins what can and can not be recycled in the bin.
March 21, 2019 at 8:01 AM
Anonymous said…
Before reading this blog, I had no idea that some of these items could not be recycled. This is the most pressing issue that we need to fix. The guidelines for recycling has to be clearer. For example, my trash cans (and probably much of Flower Mound's) has information on what can be recycled. While this is a really good start, some items are left off of the list and can cause confusion when people believe that an item can be recycled when it really can't. Many people don't take the time to properly educate themselves on what can and cannot be recycled, so if we start there, we can greatly improve our recycling productivity. There should be an easy to understand and comprehensive list near ALL trashcans and recycling bins on what should be thrown into each. If we take these steps, it's completely feasible to recycle the right way.
March 21, 2019 at 3:11 PM
Anonymous said…
Only now in this class did I realize that I’ve been recycling things for my whole life that do not belong in a recycling bin. What I thought was me saving the environment was actually me doing more harm than good. I think we need to begin with reducing waste which is easier said than done, but if that’s not possible then we need to at least dispose of this waste properly. People need specific instructions or they will continue doing things wrong, so I think detailed labeling of items is an easy fix.
March 21, 2019 at 4:00 PM
Anonymous said…
This pertains to many of the posts on here, but education is the key to this recycling puzzle, no matter how we try to step around it. However, research is also a solution as well. I remember when we couldn't recycle plastic bottle caps; we would have to take them off the bottle and throw them away separately. Now with new technology, recycling plants choose one of three options: Keep the cap on the bottle, separate them, or throw them away. This means out of every option, there's a basic 66.6% chance of one of these options being chosen at the nearest recycling plant. I know its not the completed math because taking into account what each plant prefers, the commonality of each option, etc. would be way more accurate, but you get the general idea. If we could make a small step in making every plant able to recycle bottle caps, we can start to focus on new ways to recycle unrecyclable through things like Biofuel. Recycling is very important because one day, we will run out of new materials here on Earth, and we need to be ready.
March 21, 2019 at 6:24 PM
Anonymous said…
I didn't realize that so much of what I consider "recyclable" actually harms the environment. Our family tries to reuse plastic bags as much as we can, but some things we recycle such as pizza boxes may not be disposed of properly. We reuse plastic bags when we need to carry things and when we are going out and need a bag to hold things as well. I think a lot of people do not understand how to recycle, so maybe detailed instructions on the back of items could help. I think it is important we learn how to recycle the right way to help preserve our earth's environment for future generations. I think if enough people can get the words across, recycling the right way can be feasible.
March 21, 2019 at 8:34 PM
Anonymous said…
Most people in America do not know how to properly recycle. Almost all of these people are just misinformed about recycling and the things they recycle that aren’t meant to be recycled do a lot more harm than good. I realized I was not recycling things correctly when Mrs. Westbrook had told us in class. Recycling productivity needs to be improved in the US and to do this we should implement lectures or programs that teach the youth how to recycle properly.
March 21, 2019 at 8:39 PM
Anonymous said…
The easiest way to deal with the problems of recycling is to avoid them. Instead of recycling plastic bags, one can just not use plastic bags. In China, plastic bags have been banned in marts. The US should adopt the same stance. The best way to inform people of the do's and don't's of recycling is to put a sign on every home trash can; they'd be impossible to miss.
March 21, 2019 at 10:39 PM
Anonymous said…
I think that crumpled paper is the number one thing that I recycle that should not be recycled. Every since elementary school, me and my friends became accustomed to crumpling up paper that was not needed and shooting it into a trash can. However, recently I learned that this actually severely denatures the paper, and so I started to only recycle paper sheet with no marks and wrinkles in them. I feel like the US should ban the use of plastic bag when selling merchandise, similar to how India has done. This forces people to think of more sustainable ways to continue selling their product, and this works very efficiently. I feel like this approach might work here in the United States where consumerism and materialism is extremely prevalent
March 22, 2019 at 10:45 AM
Anonymous said…
To stop people from recycling incorrectly, some say we should better educate them. While that argument is a fair one, it’s also extremely difficult to convince the entire population to convert to a new method, since the method they are so used to is engraved into there minds. Two effective ways to make people recycle better is by either giving away less plastic bags, bottles, etc., or by implementing more recycling bins/centers in more populated areas. Those are some ways we can keep our earth cleaner.
March 22, 2019 at 11:55 AM
Anonymous said…
I've always thought that any recycling is better than not. However, putting the wrong things in the recycle is apparently worse. Plastic bags are always reused in my house, and we have probably hundreds stored in our pantry. Based on those numbers, plastic bags should be made out of recyclable material or biodegradable. They will go to landfills or pollute nature even if people dispose of them correctly. Eco-friendly plastic bags, and more, would make the most sense to combat this problem. At the very least, educate people more on recycling.
March 23, 2019 at 8:20 PM
Anonymous said…
Plastic bags are recyclable and and can be reused but the main problem I have noticed is that they rip easily. When we get groceries we tie into several knots too make sure that nothing falls out and when we get home we untie it. During that process sometimes, I just don't feel like trying and just rip the bag open and throw it away. A thought is, if we charge extra for these bags then I believe that our community will treat them better and will continue to reuse it. And to help people from recycling incorrectly we can make recycling more obvious by hanging up posters and display the consequences when people recycle incorrectly.
March 24, 2019 at 12:36 PM
Anonymous said…
In our house we bought 10 or so reusable grocerie bags that we bring to the store with us. And what bags we have/do take we use in as manyways as we can around the house, primarily as garbage bags. We should move towards biodegradable bags as a ehole. But like stated by may of my classmates above people struggle with recycling as a whole due to uncertainty in what they can and cant recycle. My neighborhood has tried to assist in this area by putting pictures and information of what can be recycled on top of the can itself. But liek most things. We need to educate the public in the actual consequences that the plastic bags have caused
March 25, 2019 at 8:38 AM
Anonymous said…
Understanding the things that can and cannot be recycled is very important to truly helping the environment. I think that with most environmental issues, it all comes down to awareness and education. We cannot expect people to know what to recycle without ever being taught about it. Many things can also be reused multiple times and later recycled. It’s all about how much you know and what you can do to help. In some states, plastic bags are not offered, or they have a small charge to use them. I think this is a very effective deterrent from plastic bags and should be implemented in more places.
March 25, 2019 at 11:05 AM
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