My Simple Recycling Policy

People often want to know (rightly) if this or that category of stuff gets recycled. And people often get upset (again, rightly) when they find out their city or county is no longer recycling this or that category. These questions come up all the time in the neighborhood and in local online groups.

For me, it is all too complicated to keep track of. And anyway, the information can change at a moment’s notice. As with so many things in life, I find it easiest and most eco-friendly to adopt an across-the-board approach.

Myself, I always operate as if NOTHING gets recycled. No plastic, no glass, no metal. (Though in fact I know we can recycle metals by bringing them to the plant in Holly Hill. I have done that some years back on occasion. I heard recently that the current amount they are paying for aluminum is 55 cents a pound; YMMV.)

But in my everyday life, I have always acted as if NOTHING gets recycled. And I make my choices accordingly. Refuse, Reduce, Reuse.

And when I end up with plastic containers, glass bottles, or other stuff I cannot manage to refuse or reuse or repurpose, I just try not to beat myself up. And I do put it in the recycling bin anyway just in case someone, somewhere in the convoluted chain, might be still out there recycling it.