Surprising Things You CAN’T Recycle!

For it being January, Mother Nature’s been treating Gainesville pretty kindly with this mild weather in the 70’s. And while we’re not complaining, it’s pretty obvious that we could take a little more time to be appreciative of the mild hurricane season, the bright sunshine and the amount of great sports weather we’ve had during our “winter” months thus far.Recycling Bin with Cans and Plastic

 

We at Emmer love to give back in thanks, and one way to do this is to recycle. While there’s a huge effort here in our lovely city to follow the green road, you’d be surprised how many people throw away things that could easily be reused or chuck un-recyclable things in the green bins. So, while you can find tons of sources on things you can recycle, we’re going to fill you in on some things you cannot.

 

1)      Pizza Boxes: This may not be the biggest surprise for you, as it’s been going around for a while that the drippy cardboard can’t really be used again, but it’s the why that really matters here. Once recyclable products have been saturated with food stuffs, they become virtually useless and destined for the trash bin. This also includes products like juice boxes and aluminum foil, which is a big bummer.

2)      Wet Paper Products: The minute you accidentally spill your soda on the newspaper, it’s time to hit the trash. Once the fibers have changed from the absorption of the liquid, you’ve lost all recyclability. This list also includes paper towels and tissues- so no trying to recycle during cold and flu season!

3)      Bottle Caps: Yes, your water bottles can be recycled. However, only if you take off the lid of that bottle. That plastic has been used in a way where it’s now unusable and keeping it on the bottle adds more effort to the ones recycling. An exception? Dasani- they’ve made their entire bottles recyclable.

4)      Plastic Bags: This one even threw us for a loop! Believe it or not, those plastic bags you get from the grocery store, the clothing store, and pretty much every other store ARE NOT recyclable, primarily because they take too much time to sort and can be dangerous to rummage through. Instead, you can often take them to “bag depositories” or back to the store you got them from!

 

We got a lot of our information from this great article on EcoSalon, which can fill you in on some other surprising things you can’t recycle. While this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to recycling your stuff, don’t be afraid to ask questions. If you’re interested in learning more about the process, check out all the details our fair city has to tell at the City of Gainesville’s Recycling Page or, if you’re an out-of-towner, find out more about your own cities options through Earth911.com. Either way, happy green-ifying!

Plug it in, Plug it in (Then Unplug it!)

Today while scoping around on greenUPGRADER (a great site by the way, you should check it out if you haven’t), a really smart article caught my eye about 5 simple things you can do to make a greener lifestyle. This ranged from turning off lights when you aren’t in the room, to saving water through the “shower bucket,” which is essentially keeping the water that normally drains when the faucet is getting warm before showers, and using that water for something else. These are all great ideas, but one of our favorites here at Emmer was excluded from Becky’s list: unplugging appliances!

Electrical Outlet with Many Plugs

Do we really need EVERYTHING plugged in?

Yes, it can be an annoying task, and obviously there are some things that shouldn’t be unplugged all the time (like an answering machine; sort of loses its function, doesn’t it?), but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of appliances that, when you turn them off, could really be off. People don’t realize that when many of your appliances claim to be in an “off” mode, a lot of the time they’re in standby. When they keep sucking power from the grid, but aren’t actually in use, it’s said that these appliances are using “phantom energy,” which on average constitutes between 5-10% of the standard household energy consumption. Good Morning America quoted that this could resemble around $120 worth of electric payments each year!

We understand: “Why should I run around and unplug everything when it’ll save me maybe ten bucks a month!” It’s a reasonable complaint. But think of it this way: think of every person in the United States. Then imagine if every single one of those people unplugged their appliances when they weren’t in use. That’s a lot of energy.

Plus, there are easier ways to control the energy output. Put your computer, printer, scanner and all the other appliances in the office corner of your home on power strips. When you’re done using them, turn off the strip. Takes care of the waste! Or start small; when you unplug your cell phone, unplug the charger with it. Every little bit matters, and this could not only save you money, but it helps minimize your carbon footprint.

The moral of the story is this: do what you can, where you can and in the end we’ll all be walking around in a healthier, happier world. We’re trying our best to be smart builders; what are YOU doing?

Any other simple and green ways to be efficient every day? Let us know below!