After yesterday’s post about my disappointment with the recycling program here in Richardson, a few friends who also live in Richardson sent me some additional information on the recycling program. It turns out, we CAN recycle paper and cardboard!
Right here on the Richardson web site it says so.
Thing thing that was confusing me was this message printed on all the blue recycling bags we were given:
In case the picture is not very readable, it says:
Please use this bag for:
- aluminum cans
- ferrous metal cans (tin, steel)
- plastics (#1-5 & 7)
- glass (clear, brown, green)
In fact, according to the City of Richardson web site they actually accept:
The items below can all be placed in the blue bags:
Plastics #1-5 and #7, Aluminum, Tin, Steel, Empty Aerosol Cans, Newspapers, Mixed Paper, Paper Grocery Bags, Magazines, Catalogs, Corrugated Cardboard, Paperboard/Chipboard, Phone Books, Junk Mail, Glass Containers (All Color Glass)
Do you see how confusing this is?
I can easily go on a tirade about how so many cities spend money on recycling programs and then bemoan the fact that their citizens either don’t take advantage of the services or use them incorrectly. Which is indeed a problem, but is there any question why that might be? Maybe a little correct information would help…
Thanks so much to my friends/readers who helped me out with this!! I am gonna have a big ol’ bag of cardboard and paper this next week for pickup!
Now that’s some conscientious confusion! lol I have both my recycle bin and my neighbors and never realized how much waste packaging is on food and other materials until I began recycling. Most of it seems to be cardboard and paper.
They may accept 1-5 of plastic containers but most cities don’t have the facilities to recycle 4-7. It’s stupid. Really, really stupid. I toss our #5 yogurt containers into our recycling bin hoping that it makes it to a plant that can actually process it. I am glad that you did some research on your city’s recycling program; otherwise you would have been throwing away a lot that could have been recycled.
This is one fabulous thing about California — you just put everything into a blue bin and they sort it. I don’t know how it all works… but most people seem to have a “when in doubt put it in the blue bin” philosophy
I love California. So much. Every time I go there, I want to cry when I have to leave.
Most cities rely on the residents to educate themselves. The items were listed on the blue bags because they tend to be the items that most people are confused about. If California is so great, how come all of them are moving here?