I can't really help you out, but I wanted to say that I'm impressed that your center takes #1-7. Most of the places I know of only take #1 and #2.

As far as wrappers, I do know that my program does not take plastic bags, even though they are #2. When I contacted them, I was told the bags get caught in the recycling machines and cause problems. I don't know if wrappers would do the same.

Is your program run by the city/town? Can you contact your local government for info?

:)
Dee

No, the number does not mean it has been recycled before. It tells the recyclers what kind of plastic they are dealing with. When they are reprocessed, they aren't all melted down in one big pot. They have different properties, like some are injection molded, and some blow molded.

It's pretty hard to eyeball a piece of plastic and be able to tell exactly what kind of plastic it is. Well, I can to a point, but not always, so the number on it tells the recyclers which type of plastic they're dealing with, so it can be consolidated for remanufacturing.

I think your best bet in this situation would be to only take in plastics with a number. Odds are, if those who sort it come across plastic without, they'll toss it, unfortunately.

Kudos to them for taking so much though - our recycling pick up only takes plastics with a screw top, and plastic shopping bags - no tubs, wrappers, or anything of that sort.

Yes, I am happy too that they take all kinds. I did email the government address. That is where I got the SOMEWHAT helpful email, not very.

I didn't think either that the numbers meant they had been recycled before. That just didn't sound right, but that is what he told me.

Up to this point I had just been throwing all plastic in there, figuring better safe than sorry and they would pick out anything that didn't belong. I hate to do that, though, it makes extra work for someone. But looking in some of the bins, I wonder why people go to the trouble of bringing their stuff if they are going to unload it the way they do. They throw the bottles in where they break, and send the beer cardboard holders with them. What I understand is that the glass can't be broken. I'm not sure why.
Thanks for the input. Julie

"...What I understand is that the glass can't be broken. I'm not sure why..."

Hmm, I can't imagine that with the way the bins are handled by the collectors that some glass doesn't get broken. At least the collectors around here. They just swing those bins and toss everything in the truck, with no attention to the noise or the breakage, from what I can tell. I know because they usually do it about 5am and I can hear it clear as a bell, lol!

:)
Dee

If you cannot recycle an item , try reusing it-- also called re-purposing .
Lots of the plastic bags that food comes in , make great bags for cat litter or other stinky icky garbage - especially those with zip tops .
Some hard plastic containers can be cut and used for scoops .
Uncut they can be used for watering containers .
Here in Florida , I store rain water in the large containers and use it for flushing toilets when we have storms and lose power . The pour spout comes in handy .

I can't understand the broken thing either, but that's what the bin says. Maybe it is too hard to sort the colors with it broken?

As for reusing,that works well to a point,but with as much stuff as comes in plastic, you very quickly get way more than you need. Just the amount of those V8 fusion containers that get thrown in the recycle bin in a week, on top of everything else.

We got rid of reusing plastic water bottles for health and environment reasons. It is unhealthy to wash and reuse for drinking any of the "single-use" plastic containers. SO I went to a health food store, and for $1.09 a piece bought the 16 oz glass cold tea bottles full, and have been healthily reusing them for a long time. I guess until they get broken. I also bought some expensive fruit juice in glass in a half gallon container and we use those for carrying water and storing "made" drinks in the frig. Makes the lunch bag heavier, but works well. Julie

I just wanted to mention that if your recycling program takes plastics 1 - 7...that means you can recycle *everything* plastic (including styrafoam, packing peanuts, etc).

Which is really cool. The best program I saw was when I lived in Texas and they did 1-6 plastics.

Laura

Here is a link that might be useful: Plastics Recycling Numbers

I wish my local recycling could include numbers 1-7. As with diggerdee, they only take 1-2, but sometimes I'll sneak in others. I guess my perspective is if they get enough of the other numbers, maybe they will give in a work on recycling those as well. I find it terrible that Waste Management here won't recycle aluminum foil either. I know other places do.

I love the philosophy NY state has--paying people to recycle cans and bottles. The Wegmans in Ithaca, NY (where Ithaca College and Cornell Univ. are located) has recycling machine dropoffs when you enter the store and I believe it is 3-5 cents you get in return for a can/bottle. After you are finished loading in your recyclables, a receipt is printed for the total amount and the amount of money you earned will be deducted from your purchase at Wegmans.

Sarah

theanalyst,
In states where you get .05 per bottle, that's because you paid it when you bought the drink. You get your deposit back for returning the bottle. Usually, if you look at the price on the shelf when you purchase, you will pay the deposit amount on top of that price.
I do think deposits are good for recycyling, they also make bottle drives great fundraisers for school kids, but I just wanted to let you know you don't earn that $$, you get it back.

I found this page

Stop Junk Mail today yourself

I did it. It worked.
I check my mail twice a month now and there is only few letters.
100 million trees are cut yearly to supply junk mail.
8 month average American spends looking at the junk mail.

http://awakening.weebly.com/stop-junk-mail.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Stop Junk Mail

maxinatlanta - Thank you for the very useful link . You are right . I used it years ago and found that the ideas really worked well . This is so good that it deserves it's own post from you .

I think that if all of the glass is broken in the recycling container it becomes too heavy!

Our local litter board has several recycle stations throughout the county. They come and empty them a couple of times a month. They used to take glass, but stopped because of the danger of workers getting cut by the broken glass. (I guess this had happened several times)