Still... More Answers :)

Recycling electronics - in answer to Anonymous and Michelle Oldroyd

Some companies will take their products back if they are broken and reuse the nonbroken parts or refurbish them. But if the company of your cell phone, battery, computer parts, etc. won't take your electronics that don't work anymore, find a local BestBuy and they'll take it - no matter what it is! Go to this website and it'll tell you everything you need:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Global-Promotions/Recycling-Electronics/pcmcat149900050025.c?id=pcmcat149900050025&DCMP=rdr0001422

Where to Return old, used Propane Tanks - in answer to Anonymous

Propane Tanks can be dangerous when just sitting around, even when they're empty. So difinitely do something with them. I suggest recycling them! You can drop them off at a scrap yard for the metal to be used again, or check if your local recycling center will accept them. Here's a link to Exchange Options and Recycling Options for propane tanks:

http://www.ehow.com/way_5990396_do-old-propane-canisters_.html

Where & Cost of Recycling Long Fluorescent Tubes - in answer to Carla

As far as I could find out, recycling/returning long fluorescent tubes (CFLs?) is free, or may require a small fee at a waste collection agency. At this website, there is a lot more information on where and how to recycle them - and why it is important to. In answer to your other question about water usage vs. landfill space, I couldn't find any studies. However, I do know that it does take water to rinse the objects you are recycling, but not a super huge amount. It just can't have huge globs of food all over it still.

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Examples of Re-used Items - in answer to KaeLynn

It makes me very happy that you can show this blog to your grandkids and they can really understand about recycling! As you asked, here are some projects they can do to reuse things:

(Made from empty egg cartons)

(Made from the top of a plastic bottle)

Hope these ideas help. Here's a website with all kinds of ideas for kids crafts using recycables: http://familycrafts.about.com/od/craftsbyproduct/a/trashcrafts.htm. Enjoy!

How can an Average Person like me do better at Recycling? - in answer to TheSandyCastle

As an average college student, I would suggest you look for a recycling center near you to drop off your recycling every once in a while. Also, with those of you without convenient recycling bins you can put on the curb every other monday, simply search online for the nearest recycling center. Keep your recycling items in one place - a box or bin of your own to keep on the side of your house - and then periodically drop them off.

The Answers You've Been Waiting For!

So sorry for the delay in answering for those of you who had questions. Yesterday, I took my first AP exam (World History) and lets just say that I basically had no free time and I feel very relieved and free that it's over. :)

First of all, I want to thank all of you who commented and looked at this blog! I really appreciate it and am glad that most of you learned something. There were a lot of questions (which is a very good thing, don't get me wrong), but too many for me to answer in one post. So I will post a few and then make a new post with a few more, and so on. I'll start with the earlier questions and progress to the more recent ones. They'll be titled by the question each person had.

Remembering to Recycle - in answer to Liz H.

I think it's great that you love to recycle! I know it can be hard to remember to put a recycable in a different place than you're used to, but I know your husband can do it! I would suggest setting aside a place (bin, counter space, wherever you feel like) to put all of the things you are going to recycle. Whenever you accidentally throw something away, physically take it back out and put it in the recycle spot. It's hard to break a habit (30 days of consistently doing it), I know, but I you can help your husband work at it and eventually it will be harder to not put things in the recycle place!

True or False: Some of what we recycle ends up in a landfill anyway. Which materials are most likely to be easily recycled & really help our environment? Is it really worth the effort? - in answer to Karon

There is so much information I could give you on filling up landfills with recycable items, but itstead I'll just give you the link to this news post about this very thing!

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/environment/2010-09-26/some-recyclables-may-end-landfill.html

Also, here is a link to a website about the costs of recycling. I learned a lot from this!

http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/recycling.shtml


So, as it happens, recycling does take extra energy and effort, but the little bit we can do sure does help!

Fun Recycle Facts!

Here are some facts about recycling that I thought were interesting! They just might change your mind about throwing your items in the trash or recycling bin. I know they did for me.

*It takes 80-100 years for an aluminum can to decompose (break down) in a landfill.

*Aluminum cans can be recycled into: soda cans, pie plates, license plates, thumbtacks, aluminum foil, and many other items.

*Recycling one aluminum can can save enough energy to power a tv for up to three hours!

*In the year 2000, 13,500 aluminum cans were recycled every minute in California.

*Glass takes over 1,000,000 (one million) years to decompose in a landfill. (So be sure to recycle these ones)

*Glass can be recycled into jars, jewelry, bottles, dishes, drinking glasses, coffee mugs and many other items.

*It can take up to 700 years for plastic to decompose (break down) in a landfill.

*PET plastic can be recycled into: clothing, fiberfill for sleeping bags, toys, stuffed animals, rulers and more.

If there is anything specific you would like to know about recycling, leave a comment and I'll figure it out for you! Check back in a day or two and I'll have posted it. Thanks!

Citation: "Recycling Facts." www.recyclingfacts.org. RecyclingFacts.org, 2008. Web. 7 May 2011. <http://recyclingfacts.org/content/fun-recycling-facts>

What Do All These Symbols Mean?!

If you're feeling like the title of this post, then today's your day!

First of all - this might sound a little basic, but somebody might not know - this is the universal recycling symbol:

On most recycables, there will be this symbol (somewhere on it) with a little number inside and maybe a word underneath that looks like gibberish.

(#1) PET or PETE: Polyethylene TerephthalatePET is commonly used for soft drink & water bottles, cooking oil bottles, peanut butter containers. It is the most widely recycled plastic.

(#2) HDPE: High-Density Polyethylene Identifies milk, cider & water jugs, detergent, fabric softener & bleach bottles. HDPE is slightly waxy and semi-rigid. It does not crack. It floats in water.

(#3) PVC: Polyvinyl ChlorideAlso abbreviated V, PVC is used in salad dressing bottles, vegetable oil bottles and mouthwash bottles. PVC is smooth, scratches easily and sinks in water.

(#4) LDPE: Low-Density PolyethyleneLDPE is used in flexible bags for dry cleaning, trash, produce, bread and shrink wrap. Recycled LDPE is often used to make grocery bags.

(#5) PP: PolypropylenePP is usually is found in drinking straws, battery cases, some dairy tubs, bottles labels and caps, and rope. PP stretches into filaments and emits a chemical smell when burned.

(#6) PS: PolystyrenePS and Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) both are No. 6 plastics. PS and EPS are commonly used in packaging peanuts and other packaging materials and in plastic utensils, mean and egg trays. PS sinks in water; EPS floats.

(#7) Other: Other plastics often are made of multiple resins or layers of different types of plastics. These may include microwave packages, snack bags and industrial plastics.

Anything in these categories that has that little recycle symbol with the number and 'word' underneath can be recycled!

One more thing to remember, plastic bags are NOT recycable. However, you can bring it to your local H-E-B or Walmart and they will reuse the bag. We used to put our bit of recycle in plastic grocery bags to bring to the recycling center every few months. But - once we got there, they had us take the paper and newspapers, etc. out of the plastic bags. However, we always REUSE our plastic bags for various things, so we never throw them out. Remember the little saying they teach you in Elementary School: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. They all help our communtiy stay cleaner!

Citation: "Recycling Symbol Definitions." www.alliedwastedalycity.com. n.p. n.d. Web. 30 April 2011. <http://www.alliedwastedalycity.com/kids/symbols.cfm>

What Exactly Can I Recycle?

You might be wondering what you can and can't recycle - trust me, it's more than you think :) - so here is a list of the items accepted and not accepted. At least, according to Round Rock, Texas.

Accepted:

Paper - newspaper, magazines, phone books, junk mail, office paper and brown paper bags

Plastics (#1 through #7 [to be explained in a later post]) - milk jugs, water and soda bottles, detergent bottles, plastic tubs and jars

Tin and Steel Products and Cans - labels may be left on.

Aluminum Products and Cans

Corrugated Cardboard

Fiberboard - cereal, cake and soft drink boxes, etc.

Glass - Jars; green, clear and brown bottles

Not Accepted:

Plastic bags
Pizza Boxes

Pyrex Wax
Coated Items

Ceramics Food

Scraps Yard Waste
Garden Hoses

Textiles or Used Clothing

Light Bulbs

Electronics

We were cleaning out the office closet upstairs a while ago, and decided to throw out a bunch of spiral notebooks. BUT - guess what? You can recycle them! Just as long as you take the wire spiral out, because that part is NOT recycable. After that, it's just a bunch of paper! Also, we've had this bad habit for a really long time of throwing away our cereal boxes once they've been poured into another container (or after every child has had his/her turn looking at the back of the box...). But since we've gotten our new recycle bins, it seems that a whole lot of things we've been throwing away can be recycled! Yes - that includes your cereal boxes (don't forget to cut out the box top first!). We also try to flatten them so more fits in our bin.

Citation: "Curbside Recycling." www.roundrocktexas.gov. City of Round Rock, 2011. Web. 28 April, 2011. <http://www.roundrocktexas.gov/home/index.asp?page=378>

Recycle!

This entire blog is dedicated to recycling! I don't know how many of you out there have matching recycling bins for your neighborhood that the garbage truck comes and gets every so often, but our neighborhood just got ours, and I am so excited! Our family hasn't ever been really good at recycling, so this will give us a chance to make a fresh start and renew our recycling skills!

This blog was created for my school project. I have the assignment to "Improve my Community" and show proof of how I accomplished this task. So, with my sister's help, I came up with the idea to let people know more about recycling. Since our neighborhood just barely got our recycle bins, I know I haven't kept up on what all the symbols mean, and what you can and can't recycle, etc, so you'll now be able to find that information here!

To further my Community Improvement plan, I'm going to research all the information you could ever want (or not want) to know about recycling. To my neighborhood, I'm passing out a flyer that directs them to this blog so they can learn more about how to recycle more efficiently. Hopefully, this will help our community become more clean and environmental as we learn to recycle things we might otherwise have thrown out!