Weird Things You Didn’t Know You Could Recycle
Hello & Welcome to My World! I haven’t talked about recycling for a while, and I am a big believer in recycling as much as possible, and doing it properly. I probably have more recyclables each week than I have regular garbage. I found this to be interesting info about the weird things we didn’t know are recyclable… Enjoy the read.
recycling has many benefits… Do you rinse your recycling first?
Weird Items You Didn’t Know You Could Recycle
Recycling is an important part of our reducing how much garbage we send to landfills. According to the EPA, Americans generate more than 262 million tons of waste every single year.
Seventy-five percent of this is recyclable material, but only 25% of this
Are you recycling bottles & containers? Or do you reuse some of them?
actually makes it to recycling facilities, a horrifying figure given that 73% of Americans have access to curbside recycling services in our neighborhoods.
Amusingly, a sizable portion of these forgotten recyclables are our off-the-wall items like shoes, furniture and – no joke – dentures. Never in a million years would I have known dentures are recyclable! Here are eight of these such items not to send to the landfill! Yes, these are all recyclable items!
1. DENTURES
The average set of dentures contains approximately $25 of recyclable
Did you know that dentures are recyclable?
metals, including silver, gold and palladium. The Japan Denture Recycling Association (yes, that exists) collects false teeth, removing valuable materials and discarding the rest. Once the process is complete, the program donates 100% of its earnings to UNICEF. Cool idea, right?
2. MATTRESSES
Equipped with special saws that aren’t found in traditional recycling
Did you know that your old mattress is recyclable?
facilities, mattress recycling factories can separate foam, metal, wood and cloth and recycle these materials independently. Wood is chipped, foam and cloth are shredded, springs are melted down. Who knows, maybe that wallpaper in your dining room was made from an old mattress!
3. EXPIRED PRESCRIPTIONS
Your Expired prescriptions should never get into the wrong hands. To help
Have you thought about recycling unused prescirption meds?
prevent this, some states allow you to donate unused drugs back to pharmacies, while a few charities accept leftover medicines from people who have changed prescriptions, stopped using their medications or passed away.
4. TROPHIES
Do you have a collection of plastic trophies from your school days sitting in
Do you have old trophies? What do you plan on doing with them?
the back of your mom’s attic? It’s time to move on. Lamb Awards, a specialty recycling center, can break down your retired awards, melting them down to reuse in new trophies or other post-consumer recycled items.
5. CRAYONS
Even the stubbiest little crayons you can find, may have a renewed purpose
What will you do with your child’s old crayons?
through the National Crayon Recycle Program. This organization collects your broken, worn down crayons and melts them down into new wax so they can be remade and resold. The program says they’ve saved more than 120,000 pounds of crayons from the landfill so far!
6. DIRTY DIAPERS
In the time leading up to potty training, your average baby soils 6,000
Have you thought about recycling your babies diapers?
diapers. 6,000! Fortunately, the company Knowaste collects and recycles dirty diapers from hospitals, public restrooms and nursing facilities. Knowaste sanitizes the diapers before separating plastic from organic matter. Plastics are then compressed into pellets and recycled into roof shingles, while paper pulp becomes your wallpaper or your shoe soles. Genius!
7. PANTYHOSE
do you have torn pantyhose still taking up space in your drawers? Textile
Did you know you can recycle old panty hose, & leggings?
recycler No Nonsense is here to save your day! The organization recycles old stockings by grinding them down (didn’t think it was that hardcore…) and transforming them into things like playground toys and carpet. I find another good use for old panty hose is using it as stuffing for decorative pillows.
8. ALUMINUM FOIL
Aluminum products are among the easiest metals to recycle thanks to their
And you can even ball up aluminum foil for recycling with your regular recycling items.
ability to be melted down and turned into new products essentially forever. Luckily, most recycling facilities can handle foil, no problem, as long as it is donated in ball form, instead of loose sheets.
Do you find this to be good information. I know I did and may have a plan for some unwanted items in my house. As I said earlier, I am a big believer in recycling and want to do my share to help our planet. Let me know what you do to recycle. You can leave me a message below…
Have a great healthy day and Happy Recycling!!!
Enhance Your Life with Mother Nature! Great for your Mind, Body & Spirit!