Today I’d like you to think about recycling not from the “wash the tin can” end but from the aisles of the supermarket or from the drive through window. It’s a relatively simple process to unpack your groceries, open your can of soup, rinse the can and put it in the recycle bin. But what becomes the constant topic of conversation around our house is the “is this recyclable” question.
We take a look at the bottom of every container to see if the plastic has a number — you are only recycling numbered plastics at the Pine Tree recycle center. And then there are the plastics I call “flexible” (as opposed to rigid), such as bread bags. Those go in the recycle bins at Hannaford or Wal-Mart.
Speaking of those recycle bins, you may not know there is a Maine law, under Title 38, Waters and Navigation, chapter 16, “Sale of consumer products affecting the environment” which states that a retailer may use plastic bags to bag products at the point of retail sales “only if” the retailer: Locates inside the store or within 20 feet of the main entrance to the store a receptacle for collecting any used plastic bags and, ensures that the plastic bags collected are recycled or delivered to a person engaged in recycling plastics.
Not every retailer is aware of this, obviously, but those who are do a fantastic job of not only recycling these bags but also of keeping up with the demand. I took a handful of bags to the store one day, the bin was full, I always make sure to bundle my plastics so they aren’t all just loose so I sat the bundle on top of the bin and within minutes someone had emptied the bin and made it ready for the next customer. That’s great service.
Anyway, I started to say that it’s fairly easy at the recycle end to determine what goes where but let’s take a few minutes as we’re strolling through the aisles to choose our merchandise more wisely. As an example, certain bags used for dog food are not recyclable that I’ve been able to figure out, I’m still researching that, but there is also a variety of food available in cardboard boxes (recyclable) or plastic sleeves (recyclable) or metal cans (recyclable) or in bulk — yay, no containers to dispose of, take your bucket with you and refill it weekly.
The same with the drive through, you can buy your coffee at the location that uses styrofoam cups, which last around 6,000 years in a landfill without breaking down and which cannot be recycled, or you can drive through a location that uses cardboard cups and yes, you can recycle those, please rinse them out and crush them.
Let’s be more aware as we purchase items as well as when we are disposing of their containers, take a few minutes and learn what uses more energy to produce, glass or plastic, what uses more natural resources, paper or aluminum, what is best for the environment, and try to select products that are not over packaged and not, please, in styrofoam, if you can avoid it, please do.
Thank you for caring enough about the environment to try. If you only recycle one plastic milk jug this week and have never done that before, I will be so proud of you!
