7 ms·

To add to what others have said, I think that a lot of people have this idea that "trash = bad" so deeply internalized that they're heavily biased toward only p

To add to what others have said, I think that a lot of people have this idea that "trash = bad" so deeply internalized that they're heavily biased toward only putting things in the bin when there can be no doubt whatsoever that it is garbage. You also see this when people put greasy paper take-out food containers in the recycling. No, it's not recyclable, and worse, it might further contaminate other things and render them non-recyclable as well. But, when I ask houseguests not to put them in our recycle bin, they seem to be honestly startled by the request. Oftentimes they assume it's because I'm a lax recycler and would rather throw things away than sully my pristine recycle bin with uneaten curry.

jeromegv 5y ago
Yep, I asked people to do the same recently at a party. They were entirely shocked. It's like realizing that your disposable cutlery and plates are actually waste and seeing it going into the actual trash makes them realize how wasteful it is. Recycle (or charity giving of clothes) is such a "guilt free" behaviour, feeling like you do something good for no efforts, so I'm not surprised people would do it even when it makes no sense.
- X6S1x6Okd1st 5y ago
  Depressingly that was the point of recycling in the US https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-...
  - smsm42 5y ago
    Penn & Teller said it in 2004: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0771119/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0771119/
rhino369 5y ago
Recycling education is awful in America. I made it about 33 years without hearing that take out containers, etc. can’t be recycled.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  It also recently came out that much of the recyclable recycling was and/or is not being recycled anyway, so I doubt any education would have made a difference. I assume all the recycling efforts are simply for political purposes at this point.
  - kube-system 5y ago
    It recently got coverage in popular media -- but those familiar with sanitation operations and secondhand materials markets know that recycling has been subject to market demands for those materials for its entire existence. Recycling has never operated outside of the realm of economics. The reasons changes to recycling programs are slow are: 1. People don't pay attention anyway 2. If the price of plastics go way up 5 years from now, you'll never retrain people to recycle again 3. Recycled metals are still valuable
- jxramos 5y ago
  the problem is the recycling triangle that's imprinted on the containers, the one's showing the material code on it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_codes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_codes. Somewhere along the line the recycle triangle had become synonymous with recyclable, but what didn't get communicated is that only certain codes paired with that triangle are actually recyclable.
  - soco 5y ago
    So they use the recycling logo to indicate the material, NOT that it's recyclable. I wonder which genius came up with this idea...
  - hakfoo 5y ago
    I think that's a doomed plan. It varies from city to city, and even over time based on what they can contract to unload. They try to relay changes, but the messaging is incredibly spotty. At one point they were saying "plastic containers where the mouth is wider than the base" or something like that, rather than even trying to use the plastic codes.
handrous 5y ago
> You also see this when people put greasy paper take-out food containers in the recycling. No, it's not recyclable, and worse, it might further contaminate other things and render them non-recyclable as well. But, when I ask houseguests not to put them in our recycle bin, they seem to be honestly startled by the request. Oftentimes they assume it's because I'm a lax recycler and would rather throw things away than sully my pristine recycle bin with uneaten curry. It happens here because recycling volume is unlimited, while regular trash has a fairly low limit. However. You do not have to sort the recycling. They do not reject it for being entirely take-out containers. And it's collected in open-top containers that result in a mass littering event every time trash day happens to be windy. I suspect they're just picking out the metal and putting everything else in the landfill, anyway.
- Clubber 5y ago
  Plastic recycling is a sham. We were paying China to take it, and they were putting it in a landfill (probably). China won't take our trash, I mean recycling anymore, so now we're putting it in landfills. General rule of thumb is if you can get money for scrapping it, it's recyclable (aluminum, glass, steel, etc). Companies use plastic because it's cheap and the government won't regulate it. I remember when sodas used to come in bottles, and food came in wax paper wrapping, and it tasted better. From an npr article posted by someone else: >Here's the basic problem: All used plastic can be turned into new things, but picking it up, sorting it out and melting it down is expensive. Plastic also degrades each time it is reused, meaning it can't be reused more than once or twice. https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-...
  - legerdemain 5y ago
    Glass is mostly "recycled" by crushing, mostly to reduce the hazard of broken glass littering the street. In many states, buying a drink in a glass container carries a nominal extra fee to cover the "recycling." No one actually wants to buy your used glass containers for their own sake.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
ctdonath 5y ago
Plainly dirty, obviously goes in the trash. But where then is the line for what's otherwise clearly marked with the recycling symbol? ...especially when there's lingering suspicion the recycling bin contents are ultimately ending up in the landfill with the rest of it all?

jeromegv 5y ago

Yep, I asked people to do the same recently at a party. They were entirely shocked. It's like realizing that your disposable cutlery and plates are actually waste and seeing it going into the actual trash makes them realize how wasteful it is. Recycle (or charity giving of clothes) is such a "guilt free" behaviour, feeling like you do something good for no efforts, so I'm not surprised people would do it even when it makes no sense.

X6S1x6Okd1st 5y ago
Depressingly that was the point of recycling in the US https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-...
- smsm42 5y ago
  Penn & Teller said it in 2004: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0771119/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0771119/

rhino369 5y ago

Recycling education is awful in America. I made it about 33 years without hearing that take out containers, etc. can’t be recycled.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
It also recently came out that much of the recyclable recycling was and/or is not being recycled anyway, so I doubt any education would have made a difference. I assume all the recycling efforts are simply for political purposes at this point.
- kube-system 5y ago
  It recently got coverage in popular media -- but those familiar with sanitation operations and secondhand materials markets know that recycling has been subject to market demands for those materials for its entire existence. Recycling has never operated outside of the realm of economics. The reasons changes to recycling programs are slow are: 1. People don't pay attention anyway 2. If the price of plastics go way up 5 years from now, you'll never retrain people to recycle again 3. Recycled metals are still valuable
jxramos 5y ago
the problem is the recycling triangle that's imprinted on the containers, the one's showing the material code on it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_codes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_codes. Somewhere along the line the recycle triangle had become synonymous with recyclable, but what didn't get communicated is that only certain codes paired with that triangle are actually recyclable.
- soco 5y ago
  So they use the recycling logo to indicate the material, NOT that it's recyclable. I wonder which genius came up with this idea...
- hakfoo 5y ago
  I think that's a doomed plan. It varies from city to city, and even over time based on what they can contract to unload. They try to relay changes, but the messaging is incredibly spotty. At one point they were saying "plastic containers where the mouth is wider than the base" or something like that, rather than even trying to use the plastic codes.

handrous 5y ago

> You also see this when people put greasy paper take-out food containers in the recycling. No, it's not recyclable, and worse, it might further contaminate other things and render them non-recyclable as well. But, when I ask houseguests not to put them in our recycle bin, they seem to be honestly startled by the request. Oftentimes they assume it's because I'm a lax recycler and would rather throw things away than sully my pristine recycle bin with uneaten curry. It happens here because recycling volume is unlimited, while regular trash has a fairly low limit. However. You do not have to sort the recycling. They do not reject it for being entirely take-out containers. And it's collected in open-top containers that result in a mass littering event every time trash day happens to be windy. I suspect they're just picking out the metal and putting everything else in the landfill, anyway.

Clubber 5y ago
Plastic recycling is a sham. We were paying China to take it, and they were putting it in a landfill (probably). China won't take our trash, I mean recycling anymore, so now we're putting it in landfills. General rule of thumb is if you can get money for scrapping it, it's recyclable (aluminum, glass, steel, etc). Companies use plastic because it's cheap and the government won't regulate it. I remember when sodas used to come in bottles, and food came in wax paper wrapping, and it tasted better. From an npr article posted by someone else: >Here's the basic problem: All used plastic can be turned into new things, but picking it up, sorting it out and melting it down is expensive. Plastic also degrades each time it is reused, meaning it can't be reused more than once or twice. https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-...
- legerdemain 5y ago
  Glass is mostly "recycled" by crushing, mostly to reduce the hazard of broken glass littering the street. In many states, buying a drink in a glass container carries a nominal extra fee to cover the "recycling." No one actually wants to buy your used glass containers for their own sake.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

ctdonath 5y ago

Plainly dirty, obviously goes in the trash. But where then is the line for what's otherwise clearly marked with the recycling symbol? ...especially when there's lingering suspicion the recycling bin contents are ultimately ending up in the landfill with the rest of it all?