Recycling - To Crush or Not to Crush?

We just put loose non-food items in the blue barrel, loose grass clippings and other green stuff in the green barrel and traditional bagged garbage in the black barrel.

Chicago says to do this:

2016 Chicago Recycling Rules: UPDATED JANUARY 2016 | Moss ...

Thanks for the update (jan 2016)

I was surprised the updates says to put the cap back on plastic bottle and toss them.

There are often bits inside most caps that are not the same material.

If I crush a bottle by twisting it and replace the cap (which I have done) the volume is greatly reduced, but the label is captive.

I compost the clippings in a turned pile with leaves and dirt.

My fruit and veg scraps go to the worm box. (lots of leaves, cardboard and paper too)

Fishing worms?

These are small red wigglers.. They are really too small for fishing, but they multiply and consume a great deal. They also thrive in a compost environment..

I built a box that's off the ground and the new dirt just falls out of the bottom when done. It's incredibly rich with nutrients and goes straight to the garden.

I've tossed a few of the gardens bigger worms in the box just to keeps an eye on things. If I need fishing worms I can reach down and get one from just about any hand full of dirt. Worms from the ground that come up get snapped up by the birds or become turtle food.

Last month I did a little fishing in Lake Michigan, but I was out of state. I didn't catch a thing, but I was in a canoe with beer while a couple of chickens roasted over a big fire at shore.. win win

And are we supposed to empty K-cups or toss them in with the regular plastic recycling?

K-cups! I don't know what anybody would need with a sample portion of coffee

How can you beat a coffee maker that has a gauge like a fuel tank?

Every recycling facility has their own methods and therefore their own recommendations as to any preparation, along with what materials they accept....

http://www.brevardcounty.us/SolidWaste/RecyclingHome

IMHO: The recycle processors need to come up with methods to sort whatever we throw at them. My (poorish) town is considering giving up the recycle setup because it costs much more to recycle than to throw it. Or they may contract with trucking outfit to take it elsewhere which might cost less but not by much. Not a very motivating solution for persons willing to recycle but less than willing (me, and I assume others) to sort stuff into many complex categories, crush it and/or preform other ordering directives, then throw away the rest at another remote location.

The cost of recycling!? Years ago we put our recyclables into blue bags and tossed it in with the rest. That seemed easy enough. Especially since in the suburbs they were separating plastic, glass, paper and so on.

I would scratch my head seeing MASSIVE recycling trucks with lots of different bins. and some guy pulling 40K+ tiptoeing around the truck with little baskets full of sorted cans dutifully and slowly taking it all away.

What an inefficient process!

Now that everything is tossed unceremoniously into one large bin I would expect things to be more cost effective, but as with most government contracts they can only figure out how to make it cost more each year regardless of how efficient the process becomes.

Somebody is buying those raw materials from the recycling facility. I'm rather certain they don't donate it out of the goodness of their heart.

The cost of the sale of recycled goods should cover any additional cost of the pick up and sorting (over regular trash removal) ...AND then some!

Why doesn't it? because they can charge whatever they like and get away with it.

..so it seems... What's it like outside of the USA?

(after 5 years the average NYC collector pulls in nearly 90K! a little longer and 100+)

figure that out

ranty

I worked in the cement industry for years, oil, gas or coal were the main fuel sources.

Nowadays the range of carp fed in to the kiln as fuel is staggering, just about anything that will burn gets slung in some of the highly toxic.

I hope they scrub the kiln exhaust exhaustingly!