Successful Recycling

As we all know, recycling is one of the best methods we’ve developed as a society to help protect our planet against our increasing population, urban, and economic growth, as well as consumer shopping habits. It has firmly taken root in today’s society as a must-do. Every year, we produce millions of tons of waste, and this is increasingly becoming a major issue worldwide. So, as we did, you might be wondering, is it possible to make a difference? 

Fortunately, yes. Our gem at Garbags is upcycling, which involves giving a new purpose to items we otherwise would throw away. We believe environmental, social factors and business can coexist but we go further: we make it happen, and so can you by properly recycling!

It is, indeed, a healthy habit but to avoid wasting your good intentions, today we’re giving you some tips to help make it all worth it:

Bottle Lids

We’ve all wondered, “should I keep the bottle lids on or remove them?”. Since the recycling process has improved tremendously throughout the years, what we should do now (except if they’re not made from the same material) is to squash the air out, and then place the lid back on. This way there is neither water nor air inside!

Plastic bags

When it comes to plastic bags, we usually have a habit of gathering all our recyclable material together in them. This is a no-no and you should stop doing so. Plastic bags slow down the automated recycling process and they’re usually thrown away, even if they’re filled with all your unwanted goodies. The ideal solution is to recycle them separately, because most facilities simply don’t have the equipment to process different materials, making it difficult for those sorting it at the recycling plant.

Shredded Paper

Now, imagine you’re at the office or just cleaning up your home. You find some loose papers, so you automatically start shredding them like there’s no tomorrow. The problem is, even though recycling plants have improved and now shredded paper is usually properly recycled, if the pieces of paper are too small some centres will not accept them. Even if they do, the quality of what it can be recycled into becomes shockingly low!

Contaminated Recyclables

Keeping your recyclables clean is really important. Using cardboards and metal cans as simple and common examples, while they’re recyclable, grease can damage and render them impossible to do so. This means you also need to avoid mixing food, liquids and animal wastes in your recycling bin due to the possible contamination of the rest of the recyclable materials.

Sharing Is Caring!

If you found these tips useful, please spread the word! Taking matters into our own hands is not always the best path but, in this particular case, it’s extremely necessary. What better way to help our planet than being an efficient example when it comes to recycling? The more we know about what we can do and how we can do it, the better!