The term recycling is a positive term by default, that always brings with it a subtle sense of hope for the planet’s future, as well as the future of all living beings on it. Unfortunately, it’s often a highly misunderstood concept, which makes it more wasteful than useful. Smart recycling is all about sorting the mistakes and implementing the various steps needed in recycling with maximum effectiveness. If you are one of the few who understands the need for smart recycling, do read on as we share a few key tips on how to be effective at it.
Trash and Recyclable Materials Must Not Go into the Same Bin
Believing that there is no need to separate regular trash from recyclable materials is one of the five greatest myths about recycling which keeps it from being as effective as the processes have the potential to be. Any item that can be recycled should be put into a separate recycling bin, while organic trash in general should be put into the regular trash bin. This means that your soda cans, plastic containers, paper waste, etc. should be going into the recycling bin, and should not be thrown into the trash bin with organic waste in any form.
This is a big problem because congealed organic waste on recyclable materials can make the recycling process less effective or even completely ineffective at times. Certain items such as hard bones can even damage the recycling machines, causing further problems. Be responsible, put your trash in a designated dumpster so that a waste collecter like ewmdumpsterrental.com will know which dumpster belongs to the landfill and which is belongs to a recycling facility.
You Also Need a Hazardous Waste Bin
This is where a majority of us fail, because we falsely believe hazardous material bins to be exclusively useful at factories and nuclear plants! The problem is, broken glass, broken tube lights, broken thermometers, etc. are common household biohazards as well.
Glass shards can severely damage recyclers, while mixing mercury from a broken thermometer with regular trash can cause the mercury to end up in the soil, turning it toxic. Keep a hazardous waste bin for broken glass, spilled heavy metals (thermometers and CFL lights) and anything else that can potentially hurt the planet, the people working in the garbage recycling industry or even the recycling machine itself.
Get to Know Everything that Can be Recycled
Maximize your efforts towards helping the planet stay green through recycling, by getting to know everything that can be recycled, as well as how and where they are recycled. The more you know about the process and all objects that can make use of those processes, the more fruitful your efforts will be.
For example, we all know that paper and cardboard can be recycled easily, but did you know that the same applies to the tube around which toilet paper and tissue paper is rolled? This is because that tube or core is also made from hardened, reinforced paper, or what we simply know as cardboard. Get to know the constitution of various household items and their containers, so that you can add more to your recycling bin every week.