This Week's Challenge - RECYCLE IT

I'd like to say with perfect certainty that I create less waste than the average American.  According to some analysts, we produce over 4 pounds of garbage per person per day!  But while I do sort out my garbage when it's convenient (rinsing cans & flattening cereal boxes is easy), it's really a haphazard sort of recycling.  Anything that looks like it can be recycled gets chucked in the recycle bin, and hauled to our local Whole Foods Market, which offers recycling dumpsters. 

Where it goes after that, God only knows, because I know that there are things in there that can't be truly recycled.  In fact, I must also admit that I don't always rinse my cans.  So I feel a bit guilty about the poor souls who are employed to sort through the recycling mess, presuming that it even is sorted through!  In this way, I absolve myself of some of the guilt for using so much packaging in the first place.

Which brings us to this week's challenge.  The City of Chicago offers a recycling center - of the true kind, where you have to sort the colors of your glass and toss them in huge train car-sized receptacles - which we used to frequent when we lived in the City.  It's a bit out-of-the way of our usual habits, but I think we will be taking a trip there this week to see exactly what can be recycled - and what can't.

Here are our rules:

1.  Any waste that is intended to be tossed out must first go through a rigorous sorting process:

• Can it be reused?  (Glass jars are great to re-use for projects & painting & even as glasses.  We will not be reusing plastic containers, though.*)  If so, wash it out (if necessary), and put it away.
  
• If not, can it be recycled?  (Check list on 'fridge for those plastics - like #5 - that can't be recycled by local services.)  If so, chuck it in the recycling bin.
  
• If not, can it be composted?  (This includes paper like tissues that can't be recycled.  This does not include animal products, except egg shells.)  If so, chuck it in the compost bucket.**
• If not, then it has to be pitched.  So, pitch it in the wastebin. 

2.  We will be measuring at the end of the week (which is admittedly short, as we have a wedding out-of-state to attend on Friday) each waste bin and sharing the results.

3.  This also applies to larger objects - for instance, we have an infant car seat that we no longer need but don't want to sell - anyone need it?  Or know anyone who does?  We can't toss it, and we'd much rather give it to someone who will use it.

4.  We have one more - and maybe the most difficult - part of this challenge - that is to reduce the amount of packaging that enters our house in the first place.  While at the grocery, we will have to check to see what sort of packaging the food is coming in.  Although plastic is a miracle of science, it is derived from oil, which is becoming more of a limited resource (to which our petrol bill can attest), and it is not as stable as glass, and can leach exciting and unexpected things into the food it is containing.  If there are alternatives, such as bulk, we will try to take them!

Wish us luck!!