It would be better for our world if we were to recycle more. That said, it’s hard to know what’s recyclable and what’s really just trash or waste. To help, here’s a list of 14 things that you can recycle and 10 objects that you can’t.
- White Paper
First, it’s good to know that you can always recycle paper. Paper is easily reusable so get those office notes out and put them in the recycling bin. - Brochures
The same could be said for brochures. If you have those or catalogs, you have an easy recyclable. - Newspaper
This is an easy one. Get the news, read the news, and then recycle the news. No problem. - Wrapping Paper
Holiday season is over and you don’t know what to do with the leftover paper? Recycle them. - Cardboard
Make sure to flatten and cut the boxes before you try to recycle them. Then, congrats. You’re helping the world. - Envelopes
Don’t have a need for these envelopes that have already been used and cut open? Recycle them. Easy fix. - Paper Egg Cartons
This one is easy as well. Just make sure that the carton is thoroughly cleaned out beforehand. - Plastic containers
It’s also a good idea for you to recycle any plastic containers that you don’t use anymore. That said, you will want to clean them out like with the egg cartons. - Washed Out Bottles
Once again, make sure that you wash out the bottles here. As long as you do that, it’s ok to recycle milk, juice, or water bottles. - Laundry Bottles
The next on the list of bottles you can recycle are laundry bottles. These are easy and a great way to give back. Just clean them out, as always, and you’ve got a great and easy recycling item. - Aluminum Cans
Now from bottles to cans. It’s ok if you want to recycle and cans. Just, like always, clean them out first. So from beans to tomatoes, recycled cans are your friends. - Tin Cans
This goes with the aluminum cans, so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise. - Aluminum Foil
Just like with aluminum cans, you can recycle aluminum foil. Make sure the foil is clean of any left over food waste, but other than that you are good to go. - Disposable Pans and Plates
As long as they are aluminum, you can recycle these types of tableware as well. That doesn’t mean the paper kind. Sadly, those are too contaminated to be recylced.
Once you have gone through the list of things you can eat you have to go through the list of things that you can’t eat.
- Plastic Bags
That’s right, you don’t want to recycle plastic bags. This is because of many reasons. Namely, they will contaminate other recyclables and they can mess up machinery too. - Food Waste
This is the most obvious and the one that ends up messing up a lot of the other things on this list (and if you’re not careful things on the pro-recycle list). - Clothes
While it is great that you want to give away your clothes, garbage pickup is not the way to do it. Go to a drop off location or order a specific clothing pickup to do the job. - Ceramic
Anything ceramic has the same problem as any other glass. It’s just not a good idea for recycling. - Mirrored Glass
Ditto. - Light Bulbs
I think you get it by now, but in addition to the same worry as glass, you also have to worry about the chemicals in the light bulb if it breaks. Just don’t do it. - Pyrex Products
To make this one easy, just think this: If it’s purpose is to go in the oven, you shouldn’t recycle it. - Plastic Foam
While we know that you might not have a lot of use for this, we and others probably have even less of a use for it. - Cardboard With Wax Film
Cardboard is a great product that can be reused and recycled multiple times over. That said, when it has wax film on it that isn’t quite the case.
Glass
You don’t want glass to break and to the contaminate everything that is being recycled.
These lists of does and don’t when it comes to recycling are here to help you. We hope you now have a better idea of what is waste, what is recyclables, and what you can’t put out for curbside pickup.