Category: Recycling

Vapes and electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) came out as a safer way to enjoy tobacco products. Instead of lighting up, the device creates a vapor from e-liquid, a mixture of chemicals, flavorings, and nicotine or THC. Because a vape, aka e-cigarette, doesn’t depend on combustion to deliver the nicotine, it was promoted as a safer alternative. Charge […]

While I strive for the highest possible recycling rate, multi-material packaging is one of the most significant challenges. Many items that should be recyclable become a problem for recycling facilities, as even the smallest amount of additional material makes them challenging to handle.Like many people, I become confused about how to recycle items. If a […]

A startling 90% of plastic bags and other film, sacks, and wraps go to the trash. In 2018, approximately 4.2 million tons of plastic film and bags were generated, and only 420,000 tons were recycled. Instead, plastic bag waste ends up in landfills, where it takes an average of 20 years to break down.Thick plastic […]

You shred your paper and send it off with your curbside collections, figuring it will turn back into another paper product. That’s not always the case. Per the EPA, paper and paperboard generation reached 67.4 million tons in 2018. Only 68.2% of that paper was properly recycled. A total of 4.2 million tons went right to […]

Halloween is a fun time of year, but it’s also one of the worst when it comes to waste. A UK charity found that people generate over 2,200 tons of plastic waste from just their costumes and clothing. You also must consider that there is plastic waste from candy wrappers and the plastic bags they […]

Edward Carpenter discovered microplastics back in 1972, but they didn’t become known as microplastics for 32 years. A team led by Professor Richard Thompson studied the long-term accumulation of these tiny plastic particles in the oceans in 2004. Since then, microplastics have been of growing concern as they’re found in everything from the fish we […]

Earth.org reports that 11.3 million tons of textile waste are sent to landfills every year. The average person throws out 81.5 pounds of clothing each year. That’s just the U.S.Over 100 million tons of worldwide textile waste is trashed each year. That waste ends up in landfills around the world, equating to about one garbage […]

Wishcycling is a problem in the recycling industry, and it drives up costs and increases work for recycling professionals. A Republic Services study found that 73 out of 100 people believed they were recycling experts. Yet, 61% of them were unable to correctly choose items that were not recyclable.When you wishcycle, you recycle items that […]

Recycling may seem like a modern household practice, but it goes back to the 1800s when people would patch worn clothing or take fabric scraps to make new things. Ragmen went from door to door collecting fabric scraps to use in paper manufacturing. During WWII, families were asked to donate their scrap metal, paper, rags, […]

During WWII, plastic appeared as a “material with 1,000 uses.” Fast forward to today, when global production of plastic has surpassed 359 million tons. While plastic has been helpful in many areas, it’s also created problems within the environment. Microscopic particles of plastic are in the soil, air, and water. They’re in animals, fish, and […]