Hello all my zero waste friends! I hope like me, you are all well on your way to becoming zero waste. I have learnt so much on my journey so far and am still learning. What I have become aware of over the last few months, is that a lot of people are trying to do the right thing with their recycling, but are failing, without realising it. I realise recycling regulations vary quite a lot but hopefully I can help with a little bit of guidance.
To find out what you can and can't recycle, it is probably best to google "what can I recycle in (insert region here)". I know in Auckland we can recycle a lot more now than we used to. Sometimes you need to look out for the numbers on your plastics though because you can only recycle certain types of plastic.
If you have a choice when buying something between plastic or glass packaging, always go with the glass packaging because glass can be recycled infinitely but plastic can only be recycled a certain number of times. Metal is great as well, cans and tins can be recycled infinitely.
The main problem I see that people are oblivious to when recycling, is dirty recycling. Whatever you are going to recycle must be CLEAN!!! If your peanut butter jar still has the remnants that you couldn't scoop out with your knife, left over inside, it will be tossed in the rubbish when it gets to the recycling plant. Making all the effort you put into recycling, useless.
So please, if there is ONE thing you need to remember when recycling, make sure everything you recycle is clean. It doesn't take much, sometimes it's just a matter of putting your peanut butter jar in the dishwasher.