Dear Recycle Lady,
Why have the Trex boxes been closed or removed? What do I do with my plastic film now?
Distressed Recycler
Dear Distressed Recycler,
A chapter in our recycling journey has closed as Trex has discontinued its program of exchanging 1,000 pounds of sorted plastic film for a Trex sustainable bench. However, here’s the good news – the recycling efforts of everyone who put their plastic film in the Trex boxes weren’t in vain! Over the past two years, our community has earned eleven beautiful benches thanks to all of you.
While the structured rewards program is ending, we’re not stopping the recycling mission! Plastic bags can still find a home at your local Kroger, Walmart, or Lowe’s. Every bit counts and your commitment to keeping our community green is truly appreciated. Thank you for being such wonderful environmental champions these past two years!
Dear Recycle Lady,
This morning before putting a Kleenex box in the recycling bin I noticed that there was a piece of plastic over the opening. Does this plastic need to be removed before recycling the box?
Puzzled
Dear Puzzled,
The answer to your question depends on your local recycler. Some Recycling Centers accept the boxes with the plastic liner left on the box and some do not. The Greenbrier Recycling Center requests that the plastic liner be removed in order to reduce contamination of recycled cardboard. While the tissue boxes are recyclable, the tissues are not. They should be put in the trash or flushed down the drain. Toilet paper breaks down, but tissues do not, so they can clog up the drainage system. Have you considered using washable cloth handkerchiefs instead of tissues which end up in the landfill? Another alternative is to purchase tissues made from recycled paper. Seventh Generation, Whole Foods, Natural Value, Earth Friendly and Trader Joe’s all have tissues made with 80 percent or more recycled paper. If you need a place for storing extra plastic bags, an empty tissue box under the sink makes a good collection box.
Dear Readers,
Happy World Bee Day! Celebrated on May 20 each year, the World Bee Day celebrates the role of bees as pollinators for the ecosystem. Bees are indeed amazing!They pollinate 35% of the world’s food crops and 75% of the fruits, vegetables and nuts grown in the US. One bee must fly approximately 90,000 miles and gather nectar from two million flowers to make one pound of honey, but the average bee only makes 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. That 12-ounce jar of honey in your pantry represents the life’s work of over 860 bees.
Bees have several special structures to help them collect pollen. There is a saying that something is “the bee’s knees,” meaning that it is of the highest quality. However, bees don’t have a kneecap, so they don’t have knees. What they do have are jointed legs – a six leg section connected by a joint. Tiny pollen baskets on their hind legs, along with hairy bodies enable them to collect pollen via electrostatic charge. Their claws and foot pads enable them to collect pollen. The practice of beekeeping has been going on for at least 4,500 years and, according to https://irescuebees.com, there are 80 to 101 million beehives in the world. Even the White House has beehives on the South Lawn. A local artisan hand crafted the new beehive in the image of the White House, and it will add two more bee colonies to the existing two colonies.
Good News: The recent shrinking of the ozone hole is an encouraging sign that it’s slowly healing after decades of damage. This recovery is largely due to the Montreal Protocol, a global agreement that phased out many ozone-depleting chemicals. While natural conditions can affect the ozone hole from year to year, the long-term trend shows that coordinated environmental efforts can lead to real, measurable progress.
Have questions about recycling, or interesting information about recycling? Send questions or requests Recyclelady7@gmail.com. Dear Recycle Lady is sponsored jointly by the Greenbrier Recycling Center and Greenworks Recycling.
