How to: Realistically Recycle
Words and illustrations by Sarah Logan
With summer just around the corner,chances are you will be spending more time outside. Whether it be hiking in themountains of upstate New York, swimming in the waters off the coast of LongIsland, or skipping down the hot cement of Harlem’s streets, it is hard not tobeam at the beauty of the beautiful world. It is commonly acknowledged that thecitizens of Earth take its beauty for granted.
From a young age, we are taught to“reduce, reuse, and recycle!” It is drilled so far into our brains that itslowly becomes cheesy, a cliché within the rest of the repetitive sloganssociety repeats to us. All this is fun and great, but how can we realisticallyrecycle? While recycling is no easy feat, with some practice and repetition, itcan become easier with time.
The First Part: Reducing
Now, this may be the hardest part - mostlybecause, as a society, we use way much more single-use plastics than we areaware of. According to Earth Day Network, human beings buy about 1,000,000plastic water bottles per minute, most of which are thrown into our oceans.Additionally, half a million straws are used daily worldwide.
Recently, the zero-waste practice has beentrending in our society. This lifestyle strives to produce no waste, benefitthe planet’s oceans, and reduce the size of landfills. Although it may seemamazing and innovative, it is harder than perceived at first glance. LaurenSinger, a fellow Manhattanite and the author of her blog “Trash is for Tossers,”lives strictly by this lifestyle. She stores 3 years’ worth of her own trash ina tiny mason jar. On her blog, she defines Zero Waste as a lifestyle in whichshe does “not produce any garbage. No sending to landfill, no throwing anythingin a trash can, nothing.” For more information on her journey, visit her blogat trashisfortossers.com/.
The first step is to reduce or eliminatesingle-use plastics from your life. Therefore, you may have to replace plasticobjects with reusable or paper appliances. Here are some examples:
- Instead of using plastic shopping bags, utilize reusable cotton or paper bags. They can be found at most check out counters and in most stores.
- Swap plastic straws for paper or stainless-steel straws.
- When going out to eat, ask for a paper bowl. Or, even better, bring your own glass or ceramic bowl!
- Instead of paper napkins or towels, ask for cloth napkins at restaurants and cloth rags to clean your home.
- Opt for a bamboo brush instead of a plastic tooth brush.
- Make your own toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, and conditioner by following recipes online. Lauren has some great ones!
Of course, some of these steps will beeasier than others. Yet, this is all part of the process and the first step maybe small. That’s okay! Living a zero-waste life takes time and energy, but itis certainly not impossible. If some of these swaps seem unattainable, beginwith a small goal like eliminating plastic bags, utensils, and straws. It maybe easier than you think.
The Second Part: Reusing
The next step is to reuse some of theutensils and objects already within your possession. This is possibly theeasiest of the three, mostly because it does not require you to buy somethingnew, carry extra weight, or go out and recycle.
The meaning is simple: reuse what youalready have and eliminate the constant introduction of new products. To begin,if you have any self-care items, foods, or single-use plastics at the start ofyour green journey, continue to use them up. Don’t simply just throw them awayand buy new, more sustainable utilities. After you have eaten your food or usedup all the product within whatever single-use plastic you are using, you caneither reuse or recycle those objects.
Here are some clever ways to reuse yourunwanted garbage (or treasure, whatever way you choose to perceive it):
- Turn used plastic water bottles into planters for small flowers or herbs.
- Take a glass candle container, clean it out, put sand in it and store makeup brushes or writing utensils by sticking them into the sand.
- Use paper cylindrical cans and glass jars and fill them up with bulk food items (coffee, oats, nuts, grains, spices and flours) that can be bought at stores like Trader Joes and Whole Foods.
- Reuse plastic and paper shopping bags during your next grocery stop.
- Cut or rip up the pieces from old single-sided tests or notes and use them to make a notepad.
These are only a few ideas out of amultitude of possibilities. Again, start small and work your way up to bigger,more dramatic changes.
The Third Part: Recycling
Recycling may seem easy and convenient atfirst glance. That plastic bag you used to pick up some quick snacks at thedeli around the corner can easily be recycled, right?
Not exactly. Recycling takes more time andenergy than you would think. It seems easy enough to throw a plastic bag into arecycling bin, but they can’t actually be recycled through New York City’s sanitationsystem.
Items such as plastic jars, bottles, andfood containers can all be recycled in the NYC sanitation system because theyare rigid plastics. NYC.org defines rigid plastics as “any item that is mostlyplastic resin - it is relatively inflexible and maintains its shape or formwhen bent.” Instead of placing plastic bags in your closest recycling bin, takethem to your local supermarket. There they will be reused for future shoppers.
Most other materials can be recycled.Metal materials like soup cans and aluminum foil wraps and trays arerecyclable, although they need to be cleaned out before recycling - so shouldglass bottles and jars and food and beverage cartons, which can all be recycledas well.
Further, it is important to remember to flattenand tie together large cardboard boxes. Lined, computer, and colored paper withstaples can be recycled. Likewise, receipts, paper bags with handles,soft-cover books, newspapers, and magazines can also be recycled. Soiled napkinsand paper towels along with waxy paper are not accepted.
For any other materials you are unsure of,visit the New York City Department of Sanitation’s website at https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/dsny/site/services/recycling/what-to-recycle.
After you have acquired your recyclables,mixed paper and cardboard must be separated from metal, glass, plastic, andcartons. The cardboard boxes can be tied together with string and the othermaterials can be placed into clear plastic bags. For more information regardingthe collection schedule in your area, visit https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/dsny/site/collectionSchedule.
With time, your own green journey will become normalized, a part of every day living. One small step may seem insignificant, but it can mean life or death for the precious creatures of the world. So, start with one small step and protect the integrity of this planet’s future.
