apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

ok..... only one of the most disturbing images yet on AT..

New York is horrible with recycling. So many items go into the trash. The only plastics that you can recycle here are plastic bottles.

It has historically only been 1 and 2 plastics in NYC. For me, the real dilemma is what to do with packaging that contains multiple kinds of materials, e.g., paper cartons with plastic nozzles, cardboard boxes wrapped in plastic tape, etc. Do we have to manually deconstruct these items or can we assume that they are separated in the recycling process? Also, are bottle caps and jar lids recyclable? I never see the recycle symbol in these components.

And what the heck does one do with styrofoam peanuts??

Here in Richmond, Va we can only recycle 1 and 2 plastics which means most of my yogurt containers get thrown in the trash :-(

I just moved to Chicago from Seattle and the difference is striking. Recycling was mandatory in Seattle, with a $50 fine if they found recyclables in your trash. This made for a very high percentage of the waste stream being recycled. In Chicago, well, I've yet to figure it out. Evidently the "Blue bag" program is a farce and my building doesn't even have recycling containers.

@hejiranyc, packing peanuts are definitely not recyclable. Best thing to do with those is save them up and try to give them away on craigslist or freecycle. There are some that are sorta biodegradable, but even those really just degrade into microscopic polystyrene particles.

In San Francisco, the recycling center takes everything from 1 to 6, but if I'm correct the higher the number the more difficult it is to breakdown (because of the more complex molecule chains).

Styrofoam peanuts...
Most UPS, mailbox stores and packaging supply places will take your peanuts to reuse. Some peanuts are biodegradable, those are usually wheatie in color and have a different texture to them.

@hejiranyc, try taking your packing peanuts to your local UPS Store, Mail Boxes Etc., or FedEx Office store (or any other service-oriented mailing center). They'll usually take them off your hands quite happily, and reuse them in their outgoing shipments. The only drawback: you can only hope that the next person who receives them will reuse them as well.

it's true, in NYC only 1 & 2 numbered items are recyclable.

that fact is a good reminder. i'll keep an eye out for those numbers when i go shopping. if the container doesn't have them, i'll refrain from buying that particular product. hey, every little bit counts!

While Chicago's Blue Bag program is a failure, the "new" Blue Cart program is quite successful. You can recycle practically anything. I happen to live in one of the "pilot" neighborhoods and unfortunately it's going to take the city 3 more years to roll it out fully :(

Gee Mayor Daley, what a shock that if you make it easier for people to recycle AND accept more types of items (like plastic 1-5 & 7) they will actually do it at a higher rate!

In Birmingham, AL our recycling center accepts Plastics 1 through 7! (Most places don't even mention 7)

Luckily, our recycling center is run by a nonprofit organization and is MUCH more inspired to do their work than a typical government run program.

(For those in the area, check out http://www.aeconline.org/index.php?sn=445 for info)

in my area, 1 and 2 are recyclable, but only in the narrow-neck bottle form. they don't do a very good job of advertising what can't be recycled :(

In Austin, at my apartments, we can only recycle 1 and 2. We can't do glass, which sucks. Maybe one day...

@hejiranyc,

I don't know about New York specifically, but here in Seattle, you do not have to take the tape off cardboard or the plastic nozzles off milk cartons. And bottle caps and jar lids are not recyclable. Also, don't try to recycle the tops of aluminum cans. They can cut the workers who sort the recycling.