Given the recent Purple Haze scare, here’s a reminder from ecomaine about how to properly recycle household trash. Recycling is good for the environment, but it costs us the town money when we do it wrong.
Three basic rules for recycling plastic:
- It must be rigid plastic – nothing that can be crumpled.
- It must be a container – like a bottle, jug, or box.
- It must have a #1-7 recycling symbol
Ecomaine single-sort recycling lets you combine your paper, cardboard, glass, metal, and rigid plastic containers #1-7 into one recycling container. All containers should be empty, but do not need to be totally clean.
DO NOT RECYCLE THE FOLLOWING ITEMS
- Plastic bags and wrap
- Trash & shopping bags (empty or full)
- Plastic wrap or film
- Bubble wrap or mailers
- Tyvek or plastic envelopes
- Bread bags
- Potato chip & snack bags
- Sandwich baggies
- Animal food bags
- Frozen vegetable bags
- Pellet bags
- Newspaper bags
- Boat wrap or tarps
- Batterie (alkaline, button-cell, rechargeable & lithium-ion)
- Styrofoam (even if it’s #6)
- Cup lids or straws
- Paper towels, napkins, or tissue
- Needles & sharps
- Large metal parts (car, boat, truck, etc.)
- Gas tanks (propane, helium, oxygen, etc.)
- Wood & lumber
- Pipes (metal or plastic)
- Clothing & shoes
- Bedding & pillows
- Furniture
- Light bulbs (any type)
- Garden hoses
- Hangers (metal or plastic)
- Diapers (baby or adult)
- Food or plants (compost these)
- Kitty litter
- Knives & blades
- Toys
- Vinyl siding
- Wax-coated paper & boxes
- Rope, string, chain
Many of these items can be recycled and/or disposed of in an environmentally friendly way, but not through our town’s recycling program. Watch for future articles about this.