Attention campers!  What if there IS no number?!?!

October 7, 2011
by Ethan Fuirst

Whether or not to recycle styrofoam or waxed cartons (yes to the styrofoam, no to the waxed cartons – see “All right, campers: Two common recycling misconceptions!”) wasn’t the only confusion people revealed in our Community Day recycling quiz.  Sometimes, your search for the little recycling triangle will be in vain. . . because there is none!  What to do?

Non-numbered Plastics

In fact, a good rule of thumb is that if your item has no number, it’s not recyclable. So on to Plan B for this numberless object:

The Throw-Away vs. The Give-Away

Plastic toys in bad shape and miscellaneous unnumbered plastics should be thrown out instead of recycled.  But if the toy is in good enough condition to be brought to the New Castle Recycling Center’s “Take It or Leave It” shed (open first Saturday in April through last Saturday of October—that’s the 29th this year), then come on down to this exchange of free stuff!

“Take It or Leave It” shed as a lending-library for toys

This Saturday morning hot-spot does a brisk business in kids’ strollers, bikes, molded plastic Fischer-Price-type toys of all kinds—and guess who many of its customers are?  Grandparents whose grand kids are coming to visit!  They come get playthings from the shed on a Saturday morning and return them once their little visitors have gone.

Plastic bags: No number, but YES recycle

Plastic bags used to cover dry cleaning and those on your morning paper (for those still reading tangible printed copies), although number-less, can still be recycled if they are all stuffed into one bag. Consolidating bags into one makes for more efficient sorting later in the recycling process.

Plastic grocery bags can be recycled along with them; however, instead, make an investment in sustainable reusable grocery bags. And, by the way, keep them in the car rather than in your house.  How many times have you found yourself at the grocery store without them and felt like a fool?

Aluminum Foil!?!??  Yup.

Unknown to most, aluminum foil is just as recyclable as any aluminum soda can. Just because it looks more like trash than a soda can, doesn’t mean it is trash! As long as the foil is roughly cleared of major food residue, the foil can be tossed into your recycling bin with other plastics, glass and metals. As you can imagine, considering what that foil will undergo in the recycling process, minor food particles are inconsequential!

The Take Away:

• Into the trash with your non-numbered plastics except for still-usable toys, which should be brought to the “Take It Or Leave It” shop for someone else to pick up and enjoy.

• Recycle your plastic bags by stuffing them all into ONE bag, but – even better—avoid picking up plastic bags at the grocery store altogether.

• Recycle aluminum foil cleared of major food particles.

Ethan Fuirst is a junior at Greeley where he heads the environmental club STOP—“Students and Teachers for Our Planet.”  He’s also a deputy leader of the town’s Sustainability Advisory Board, or SAB.

You’re invited:

“We are a group of 12 town residents,” says Ethan, “whose mission is to brainstorm with New Castle decision makers on ways to promote environmental sustainability in our community.  That includes residential and commercial sustainability matters, ways for New Castle to encourage more recycling and waste reduction, and ways to reduce our carbon footprint in every day practice.

Led by Beth Sauerhaft, we pow-wow with town employees Bart Carey and Gerry Moerschell, community members Dick Goldsmith, Robi Schlaff, Maxine Margo, Allyson Bari-Guida, Amy McNamara, Jennifer Flagg, Nancy Lyman, Steve Wolk and Tracy Stein.  If sustainability sings to you, you might be interested in joining us.  Send Barbara Gerrard an email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Ethan Fuirst is the deputy leader of the town’s Sustainability Advisory Board, or SAB.  “We are a group of 12 town residents whose mission is to brainstorm with New Castle decision makers on ways to promote environmental sustainability in our community.  That includes residential and commercial sustainability matters, ways for New Castle to encourage more recycling and waste reduction, and ways to reduce our carbon footprint in every day practice. Led by Beth Sauerhaft, we also have town employees Bart Carey and Gerry Moerschell, community members Dick Goldsmith, Robi Schlaff, Maxine Margo, Allyson Bari-Guida, Amy McNamara, Jennifer Flagg, Nancy Lyman, Steve Wolk and Tracy Stein.  If sustainability sings to you, you might be interested in joining us.  Send Barbara Gerrard an email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).