Remember the old days when everything you wanted to get rid of magically vanished into a big hole somewhere far away from your house and you didn't have to worry about it anymore?

Well, of course, that never really existed. Nationally 80% of all garbage goes to landfills and they are filling up and closing permanently at the rate of about two per day. Approximately 10% of the trash goes to incinerators, but there are lingering questions about the effect of burning potentially toxic substances and nobody seems to want an incinerator -- or a landfill for that matter -- in their neighborhood.

A visit to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) is instructive, revealing the methods by which the recyclables are sorted. While all of the items will eventually be crushed, shredded and otherwise reduced prior to the actual process of recycling, it is important to remember that for purposes of sorting, glass, plastics, and metals need to remain full sized and intact. The sorting is usually done by machine, which is not designed to sort correctly items that are less than full sized.

Finding ways to recycle and to reduce our trash seems to be the best way to help alleviate the situation. We want every household to think about what it throws out and where that refuse goes, either to a landfill or to a facility where some use can be made of it.

An item is only recyclable if you can recycle it and you make the effort to recycle it.

Contents

1. Precycling: Reducing Waste Before Purchase
2. Yard Trimmings: Leaves, Grass, and Branches
3. Composting: Making Friends of Earthworms
4. Glass: What Is and What Isn't Recyclable
5. Metals: Do You Need A Magnet?
6. Plastics: A Quick Lesson in Chemistry
7. Paper: Newspaper, Cardboard and Junk Mail
8. Hazardous Materials: Not For the Regular Trash
9. Motor Oil and Antifreeze: For the Do-It-Yourselfers
10. Donations: Trash to Treasure
11. Trash: The Stuff That's Left
12. For Those Who Want To Learn More