Lee on recycling, the right way

April 07, 2016

More than 97% of households in New Zealand have access to kerbside or drop-off recycling – as a result, recycling of packaging has doubled in the last decade.

Home recycling is consistently the most reported sustainability activity by Kiwis – most of us do it, most of the time. But do we really know how to do it right?

Batches of recycling that are too dirty, or are mixed up with other stuff, can be too hard or expensive to sort and may not end up where we all hope they will.

A bit of horror story on NewsHub recently is a reminder to ensure we all do our bit to make the process successful.It’s been awhile since I checked myself on what I toss in my green bucket, so here are my top tips:

• Check before you chuck – plastics with recycling symbols 1-7  are all good in Wellington City (check your local council website for rules in your area). Items without a number are best kept out of the recycling stream as they could contaminate an otherwise “good” batch. Wellington City has a good recycling directory.
• Soft plastics (anything you can scrunch in your hand) are currently collected privately with drop offs at supermarkets and The Warehouse. Check the Soft Plastics website for more details.
• Lid police – lids off people. That means off the plastic milk bottles, off the glass wine bottles and jars. If they have their own symbol, then recycle as labelled. If not, bin ’em. Lids can scupper the operation for a few reasons, so if in doubt leave them out.
• Clean and green – wash or at least rinse all your recycling. Not only is it nicer for the people who have to sort it ( yes, they are real people), but really grubby stuff is of low value and might create enough contamination to send a whole batch to the dump.

Want to go one better? Avoid or minimise packaging altogether:

• Take your own shopping bags. We have a few for sale in our EcoShop
• Take your own vege produce bags – we sell handmade upcycled ones from net curtains. They are cooler than you’d think.
• Choose packaging that can be reused or recycled – like glass jars you can fill with yummy homemade jam later.
• Coffee lover? – take your own reusable cup. Cafés sometimes offer a discount if you supply your own cup.

Reducing and recycling are surest ways to reduce waste to landfill – those stinking great holes where waste rots slowly, can leach evil juices into the soil, causes land-use conflicts (e.g. with housing) and adds to litter ending up in stormwater and eventually in our oceans.It’s a small action but it empowers people to reduce their collective impact on the planet. Keep it up!

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