Blue Devil, Green Blog

For my first post I have decided to give some easy examples of things that can easily be recycled

The first step in doing this is, of course, to look at what your town accepts for curbside recycling. My home town of Bloomfield, CT has some very strict recycling policies, New Britain appears to be a little more liberal.

The first item we are all too familiar with is the pesky, cardboard paper towel/toilet paper roll. These easily overlooked menaces are usually just get tossed into the nearest trash bin, but are accepted curbside in most towns, so they’re worth taking the extra walk to throw them into the recycling bin instead. Also, they can be used for a variety of different things, like a makeshift megaphone, or, as my father calls them, doo-DOO-doos, for their use as musical instruments. So you if you feel like saving them up, I’m sure your local daycare or kindergarten classroomwould love to take them off your hands.

Another item that I always toss immediately are the super annoying cards that fall out of every magazine you’ll ever read. I’m not sure what they called specifically, but every Sports Illustrated I get has two in it, and every ESPN The Magazine will have four. Some larger magazines will have six or more. I know they’re annoying and easy to ignore, but they are made of a thicker cardstock and can be recycled along with the magazine itself.

A big one for most college students is the plastic lid from your drink. Paper cups usually have a wax coating inside which makes them unrecyclable, and Styrofoam should be avoided altogether, but if the lid has a 1 or a 2 inside the recycling logo they’re fair game. Tons of people bring their coffee to class in the mornings and on the way out they toss it all in the trash, but a quick separation of the cup from the lid can save a lot of plastic. Along the same lines as these lids are straws, plates, and napkins which can be recycled as long as they aren’t coated (hygene isn’t a concern because it’s all properly cleaned during the recycling process).

Light bulbs are often disposed of improperly and can be recycled, too, just like all glass and metal items. Some towns won’t accept them curbside but they can usually be dropped off at any recycling center.

There are many simple ways to recycle your everyday items, it just takes a little thought to realize that these often insignificant things can be reused.