Should we recycle anything other than aluminum cans?
I have seen arguments on both sides and stopped recycling for a while after a friend of mine who works with a neighboring city department told me they just dump the recyclables in with the regular garbageOne has to wonder if by the time they transport it, break it down to reuse, sanitize it, and put it back on the market somehow if anyone is really doing thisOur city stopped curbside pickup and just has a few bins set in a parking lotI've gone back to recycling because it gives me a better piece of mind knowing that I am doing my part, however misguided it may beBut, in the bins I've seen spaghetti jars and peanut butter jars, etc., that aren't even rinsed out! I seriously can't see them recycling these containers, or taking the time and expense to clean them out, and possibly don't even sort them, but just 'dump' the whole batchWhat's more, raccoons will smell the food and go in the bins and guess where they end up? Picked up by the fork of the big trucks and dumped with everything elseI think we need to start reviewing how we package things to begin withWhen I grew up milk, pop, and such were in glass bottles that you paid a deposit on and only got back when you brought in the emptiesBut, can you trust these to be sanitized properly? Or would it be worth the cost of transportOne thing I've done that everyone can do to help a lot is I shop with my own canvas totesSo, I'm not bringing home plastic shopping bags that take hundreds of years to break down (and are also killing off sea turtles as they think they are jelly fish when found in the water and then chock) or paper which is causing more trees to fallThese bags are washable and will last me for yearsJust think if just one in ten people started doing this.
