Recycle.

Recycle.

Over 1998 I worked at a recycling center for about nine months.
Here's what I learned:

1. only buy glass. When aluminum and plastic are melted down you lose a lot of the material in the form of fumes and smoke. When you melt down glass you lose almost nothing. Additionally the more people use glass, the more likely it is that stores will go back to the washing a reusing bottles, which takes even less energy than recycling them.
2. Plastic isn't really recyclable. You can turn some plastics into harder plastics, but you can't turn the harder plastics into much of anything. Easy solution - don't buy plastic.
3. Aluminum isn't recycled into cans. When you put your aluminum cans in the recycle, they get smashed into blocks and then they get sent to Asia where they are melted down and made into car engines. Therefore every time you drink soda/beer from a can, the can is made out of virgin materials. That means they cut up a mountain and use a whole slew of toxic chemicals to separate the ore from the earth. Simple solution - don't use cans.
4. Paper is recyclable. It seems like most people only recycle their newspaper. You can recycle colored paper, newsprint, cardboard, blueprings, magazine, etc. Basically everything.
5. Here's a list of other things that you can recycle: Brass, Copper, Scrap Aluminum, Lithoplate, Xerox cylinders, Steel. If you live in a small town they not take all of these, but if you live in a big town there is probably a place that will.
6. There's a lot of pretty severe Alcoholics working at the recyucling centers.
7. There's a big section of hell set aside for people who put things like dirty diapers and vomit in their bags of recycle.
8. Most counties have a recycling hot line, so if your recycling center doesn't take certain things call up the hotline and find out who does.

page 154
Ott, Jeff. My World: Ramblings of an Aging Gutter Punk. Subcity records. USA, 2000.

More:
Orange County's Recycle Standards.

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