Last week, Lisa asked her local Starbucks why they didn’t have the holiday cups. The disturbing answer was: because of the red dye, they’re not recyclable. which means they’re banned in Minneapolis. WHAT? They’re not recyclable? Was I supposed to know that? HOW was I supposed to know that? I’ve been throwing them in my recycle bin!
At the beginning of this month, I checked the food holidays for November and noted that November 15th was National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day. Boy… was there ever a less fun food holiday? Knowing that I needed to do it before Thanksgiving, on the 15th I grimly started pulling things out of the fridge… ugh.
Cleaning out the fridge is always unpleasant, and I have to admit I made it a little easier by dumping some things I should have recycled. Yes, instead of carefully emptying, cleaning and drying every container- I threw some in the trash.
I know it’s bad- I don’t do that often. I usually recycle. But here’s the thing- it’s possible that I just saved an extra step, because odds are those things were going to end up in a landfill anyway. According to this article, only about 35% of what goes in our recycling bins actually gets recycled. And even worse, if you just take plastic alone- only 9% of it gets recycled. The rest ends up in a landfill.
The reasons are complicated, but the simple explanation is that we used to send all our recycling to China (where most of it ended up in THEIR landfills) until a couple years ago, when they decided they didn’t want our trash anymore. So the US hasn’t developed an organized system for dealing with it. And another big problem is “wish-cycling,” where people throw anything and everything in their recycling bins.
I’ve been guilty of wish-cycling. I’ve definitely put things into my recycling bins that I wasn’t sure about, but thought “Well, I’ll let them sort it all out at the recycling plant.” The truth is, throwing non-recyclable things in with the good stuff slows down the process, making it even less profitable and efficient, and increases the likelihood of the whole batch being contaminated and thrown away.
But how am I supposed to know what I can put in? What do all those numbers mean, anyway? Why am I just now hearing the red dye in the Starbucks cups is non-recyclable? Am I not supposed to recycle anything red? What’s going on???
It seems like the only solution- especially when it comes to plastics- is to “reduce and reuse” -and recycle… as little as possible. Easier said than done.
Do you feel like you understand all the recycling rules?
Are the Starbucks holiday cups banned anywhere else? Why is it just Minneapolis?
26 Responses
I do NOT understand the recycling rules fully, but have heard about all your descriptions (i.e. that most recycling doesn’t even get recycled; it can make the consumer feel virtuous – and companies will even market things as being recyclable – but the sad reality is SO much ends up as waste). Years ago composting bags (looked plastic, but were supposedly biodegradable) were all the rage but our area banned them because they didn’t actually break down quickly at all!
Where we live in Canada there is a lot of separation; I’m not sure if that actually ends up helping, though? And it is a nuisance…
Paper has to be in one bag. Plastics and glass in another. Broken glass in a taped box. Cardboard is separate from paper. Compost goes in it’s own bin. And then garbage. Also, as a residential owner, we’re limited in how many bags we can put out each week, too.
I will admit I almost always throw out peanut butter bottles because I hate washing them, but other than that I think I’ve learned what can/can’t be recycled? No shrink wrap or any very hard plastic (like what would be around a Barbie Doll you have to cut into and open).
I know I’m a broken record (and this is a broader topic, not as related to food) – but thrifting is such a great way to cut down on waste. There is obviously no packaging since it has already been worn, and it keeps that item out a landfill. We also get things beyond clothing too; art, furniture, toys. The options are almost endless!
Yes, that really is a good point. Buying things used is great. Wow, you really have to separate your recyclables- which on one hand seems like a huge pain, but on the other seems like they’re serious about doing it right. Maybe more of yours actually gets recycled?
THIS!!! I have serious questions about whether there is any point to recycling. The other issues that I’ve heard about in recent years is that you’re not supposed to recycle greasy cardboard such as pizza boxes and you’re supposed to wash out everything that you recycle. Assuming that it’s true, I got the memo way too late on those items. I’m not sure where to go for a source of truth on this. As it is I put everything that I was taught to put in the recycling bin except pizza boxes and that’s going to have to be good enough until we get more information.
I’m totally on board with reducing consumption and disposable items==>that’s something that’s easy to understand and works for everyone except possibly disposable item manufacturers. But I’m sure they’re not hurting for business.
Can we ban National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day? While cleaning the fridge is necessary, a national day for it seems over the top. I try to do a quickie fridge purge on trash night so that we don’t get a pile up of anything too egregious, but there are certainly things that slip through the cracks.
Ha ha… yes, I’m not sure whose idea that was. I definitely needed it, but I’m going to adopt your method and do a quick clean on trash nights from not on so it doesn’t get so bad.
Apparently cardboard does get recycled more than plastic, and I’ve definitely heard no greasy pizza boxes. But I’m not really sure what’s true anymore.
I am still so bummed about the Starbucks cups! But I agree that recycling is really confusing and it’s sad to hear that a lot of what we recycle doesn’t actually get recycles. How was a person supposed to know the red holiday cups weren’t recycleable? I try to check the packaging on things and looked up what all the different number codes meant awhile back but it’s still really confusing.
My city’s organics recycling program has really cut down on garbage/waste, though. I mean we go through an alarming number of kleenexes and those used to go in the trash but now we can put them in our organics recycling bin.
I’m guessing your city is doing a better job than most- considering they banned those cups. We don’t have an organics recycling bin and can’t recycle things like kleenex.
I do NOT feel like I understand the recycling rules at ALL. Our local recycling collection program recently said we can only recycle things with a lid that is smaller than the bottom, like a water bottle, but not a sour cream container. (I think?) It is quite confusing to me. I do know that you are supposed to wash things thoroughly, so I am really good about that. But now that we can recycle fewer items, I am hyper aware of how much plastic we use. It’s awful. It’s such a big problem, and plastics and other non-recyclables are such a big part of our lives, I don’t even know how to go about stopping. Stop buying sour cream? Cheese? I am sure I could rely less on Amazon, that is bad for many reasons. It’s overwhelming.
And we’re lucky that we HAVE recycling! My parents live in an area that just doesn’t have the infrastructure to support recycling, so there are no programs to do it. UGH UGH UGH.
Okay, that rule about the lids is weird- I’m sure many people are confused about that.
I think the solution doesn’t lie with the consumer, but rather the companies who make these products and sell them in plastic. They need to come up with better options, but they won’t unless they’re required to, so….
That is super interesting about the red dye not being recyclable – I never would have known that! I try to recycle as much as I can, but I often wonder if what I think is recyclable really is recyclable.
Yes, me too! Especially when something like this happens. I’ve been “recycling” those cups for years.
I have always found all of the recycling “rules” to be complicated and sometimes not consistent. I really need to clean out my fridge and there is no way it is going to happen before Thanksgiving!
Deborah, I never would have gotten it done if it weren’t a “national” day, but I’m so glad I did it before Thanksgiving- it was really bad. I should have taken a “before” picture.
I haven’t been to Starbucks in forever, so I can’t speak to that. I did hear that about recycling, though, so I do try to minimize my plastics. But it’s hard, really hard, because so much IS plastic.
One of my friends taught school in Texas – this is probably in the mid-90s – and the school served lunch on styrofoam plates. My friend talked to the principal and thought that maybe they could figure out a strategy that wasn’t just throwing plates in the garbage. The principal said not to worry, they didn’t throw the plates in the garbage. THEY JUST BURNED THEM. RIP the atmosphere.
Oh, that’s funny- GREAT solution! I’m pretty sure styrofoam is never recyclable… so it’s probably the worst thing ever.
My Husband works for the Solid Waste department in our county, and one of his jobs was to calculate recycling tonnage for our county. I constantly have to ask him about plastics. Since the goal is to have a high tonnage, he used to be pretty adamant about correct recycling. Yet even we aren’t always the best at recycling. We are pretty good about only putting recyclable items in the bin, but sometimes we also just throw recyclable things in the trash. (Our county will actually go through your recycling and tag your bin if you have unrecyclable things in it and then it won’t get collected.) I think part of our less than perfect recycling effort is that that because of his work, my husband knows that a lot of our county’s recyclables won’t actually get recycled (for all the reasons you’ve mentioned) or even counted in the recycling count – he concentrates on paper, plastic, and metal recycling. I do try to re-use glass jars as much as possible rather than recycling them. For me, sometimes it is easier just to throw the entire food container out rather than wash it, or if I’m upstairs and the recycling bin is downstairs, I just put it in the garbage rather than walking downstairs. I call it recycling fatigue, having to keep up with all the rules and frictions of the recycling process. Of course I feel like I could just put a recycling bin upstairs and that would solve that one.
I feel like I need a Clean out the fridge Day at least once a week! Your fridge looks very uncluttered!
First off, the fridge hasn’t looked that good in six months.
Recycling Fatigue is a great term. Especially if you’re not really sure the thing is going to be recycled… it seems like a lot of trouble sometimes. i often feel like I’m throwing things in the recycling bin just so I can feel good about myself- not because I really think it’s going to make a difference.
I’d like to add on that we need to think about other costs associated with recycling, too. Like, sometimes throwing out a peanut butter container is actually better because you’re using so much water to try and clean it! I have a friend who basically banned plastic in her house and I honestly do not know how she lives. How does she buy staples? If I want blueberries, they come in plastic tubs. If I want to buy cheese, it’s all in plastic packaging. (I’ve just outed myself that I would live on cheese and blueberries if allowed.) I take seriously the reduce part of reduce, reuse, and recycle, but how do you reduce the amount of plastic you use? It seems impossible! And since plastic isn’t be recycled, what are we even doing to our world? I’m obviously stressed out about this.
Yes, it’s really frustrating. I agree- almost all groceries come in plastic containers. And you’re right- the peanut butter jar is a great example because it’s so hard to clean- definitely takes a lot of water. And especially if it might end up in a landfill anyway… this whole thing is very confusing.
Who knew there was a day to clean our your fridge? Oops I missed it.
those cups are NOT recyclable?!
Anyway I got my reusable Red cup yesterday along with zillions of others.
Yes, I know yesterday was Red Cup day!
My fridge desperately needed cleaning… so it was good timing.
Recycling can be confusing. I remember there was a note from our recycling company that said that they were going around checking the bins to make sure people are doing it right and if you don’t improve mistakes aftera warning you pay a fine. I never saw them implement it but just the possibility made me try harder to get it correct.
Well, that’s good! At least they’re trying. I’m afraid people in our area would just give up and not recycle at all though.
The US is very much behind on recycling…. I am not surprised to hear that people are confused (I am confused!) and don’t know what actually goes into recycling. I kinda know the rules but still often wonder “ok, is this considered cardboard that can be recycled, or is it soile and can’t be recycled?”… we recently got a compost bin and it says we can put cardboard in there that is soiled (big no-no before), but only if it’s not lined with anything … gosh, it’s really hard to tell sometimes.
Growing up in Germany, we separated trash for as long as I remember. My boyfriend (25 years ago) actually worked at a trash company (not on the trucks, in the office, but during his training phase, he had to visit all departments and told me that they do have people that sort through the recycling (what a horrid job!), but since it’s so time-consuming lots more things end up in a landfill than is necessary.
It makes me feel good to separate trash, but yeah, I don’t want to think about the fact that half of the effort is probably wasted.
I have heard this about recycling, and it’s frustrating to be sure. I never know what to do, and living in California, I don’t really want to use the water to wash things. I have taken to looking for options instead of plastic if they are available. We don’t put our produce in plastic bags at the store, just put the apples in the cart. But so many items, there is no choice, other than do without, which I am not interested in. Sigh.
One of the sucky things about my apartment is that there isn’t a way to recycle! For a while, I was keeping all my recyclables in a reusable shopping bag and transporting them to my mom’s. But then I read about how few things ACTUALLY get recycled and it felt like a waste. I know I need to be better about using less waste, but it’s so hard when companies aren’t taking any steps to use less in packaging and stuff.
Yes, I think the responsibility really lies with the companies here. It’s almost impossible to avoid buying things in plastic.