10 away from 500! Ask me anything about...Recycling!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

yes it's a lame subject ..but I will astound you with my expertise!!:eyes:

[Merlot]

1. How does it differ from bicycling?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. according to one of my customers...

They are not very different, and you can COMBINE the two. Every two weeks, this guy rides his bike up a huge hill, kiddie trailer hooked to his bike, to deliver about 100 lbs of newspaper.

[jandrok]

2. Recycling is cool...so is freecycling......

We collect aluminum cans and make donations to my daughter's elementary school library.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. We have several people...

Who collect at work, and use the $ for office parties, or charity donations.

[crispini]

5. Why won't my city take supermarket plastic bags?

They take combined glass & plastic in one blue bag but I have to schlep the supermarket plastic bags back to the supermarket! (I have started using string bags in self defense, the damn things multiply like rabbits.)

For that matter, why does my city take newsprint but not cardboard? Isn't cardboard of higher quality than newsprint?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. What part of the country do you live in?

If there is no market for it (resale) in you're area, maybe? People also tend to not know that there is a difference in types of plastic bags, and the sorting process is expensive.

Some supermarkets won't take the bags back because they take up space, and they are 'low quality' - which translates into not enough $ to be worth their time, although this is changing.
Shrink wrap is worth a fortune, they are just finding this out, so I think they will be more willing in the future.

News print (clean - no mags or inserts) is going for the same price as Cardboard, but you need lots more space for cardboard. Also depends on which part of the country you are in...

[crispini]

9. I live in Dallas.

There are different types of plastic BAGS? Wups. The supermarket recycling people are not going to be very happy with me. :)

We have curbside recycling here and I find that between curbside, the cardboard dumpster, the supermarket bag recycling, and the compost pile, I throw away 1 small bag of trash a week. :thumbsup: But it IS a pain in the ass, my trash goes to FIVE different places!

Oh, and cat litter. Know anything I can do to recycle cat litter? :D

[Viva_La_Revolution]

12. Yep, here's an easy test....

grab the plastic bag in both hands and pull. the more it 'stretches' before it breaks, the more HDPE in it. if it rips easily (shopping bag) it's part HDPE, part LDPE. the ones that don't stretch at all are the ones they DON'T want mixed in.

Try lugging your 'trash' to work once a week! that sucks, but I feel guilty every time I throw a damn cereal box away! lol

Cat Litter - sorry! you're on your own there!

[crispini]

14. Cool, thanks! n/t

[bigwillq]

7. What do you like to recycle better, glass, plastic or aluminum?

:hi:

[Viva_La_Revolution]

8. Glass sucks!

It comes in dirty, and it's dangerous of course, the fine pieces get everywhere! Alum is ok, but it draws yellow jackets in the summer, and the bales tend to explode when you are moving them from the baler to the stacks, and then into the truck. Hard plastic - same problems as the alum. LDPE and HDPE film are okay - (shopping bags and shrink wrap) it's a bit of a trick to bale, but worth $ and prices are rising nicely lately.....

[bigwillq]

10. Cool!

:hi:

[RoeBear]

11. Why does it make sense to:

wash cans before putting them out for recyling?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

13. because the poor guys on the sort line....

have to touch all that nasty smelly stuff, then they walk into my office and STINK the place up!!!
no really, the food is a contaminate. draws insects and rats, and during processing the labels and food can screw up the mix.

[RoeBear]

26. I guess I understood that part of the why...

...but why or how does it make sense to waste one resource water, to save another resource steel?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

28. In some of the new plants....

The water that is being used is also 'recycled'. but there are very few of these :(

[pres2032]

15. why do we repeat "cycling?"

[Viva_La_Revolution]

17. because your needle is stuck...

switch to CD's man, it's the 21st century... LOL

[Sanity Claws]

16. Should boyfriends be recycled?

Generally I just trash them. Should I change my ways?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

18. NO!

There is no facility in the world that can take an old, used broken down man and turn him into something usable. sorry, technology is not miracle working.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

19. Yea! Thanks Guys - I broke 500!!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

edited to add happy frogs!

[Sanity Claws]

20. LOL

Thanks for confirming what I already thought.

[48pan]

21. Can you recycle rotting chicken wings? n/t

[Viva_La_Revolution]

23. I suppose you could....

plant them in the garden and see what grows in the spring. Let me know how it turns out, we could be on to something there...

[bigwillq]

22. Congrats on 500 posts!

:toast:

[Viva_La_Revolution]

24. Thanks... I'm all giddy with feelings of accomplishment....

yet my dishes set in the sink, and laundry to be done.... can't tear myself away from you people. Do I have a problem? DU Addiction!

[bigwillq]

25. They have a patch to help with the DU addiction!

I'm wearing one now but it's not helping!:)

[eyepaddle]

27. So what do you guys do withall of this stuff?

(I manage household hazard waste--often in conjunction with recycling and get asked that all the time--what do you say?)

[Viva_La_Revolution]

29. we clean it up...

sort it into separate grades, then bale it and ship it to a mill, where it is turned to pulp (paper and cardboard) or chipped and melted (steel, tin, alum, plastics) and the 'scrubbed' product is used to make new cardboard, paper, cans or plastic products for retail sale. Scrubbed - means the dirt, food, dyes etc that were added to make the first product are removed so the base material can be re-used.
As far as the hazardous stuff, not really my area, but depending on the material, they either scrub it or just process it for safe disposal.

[lib_1138]

30. Do you recycle posts?

B/c I am new and want to get my post count up! ;)