R is for Recycle

Ah. The oh-so-easy third step. Recycling. In the past I have told you about the laws that govern recycling in Wisconsin. Now, clearly because you are reading this, I assume you are above the recycling curve. The best way to make sure the items in your blue bin get recycled is to know your local recycling regulations. Now, if you are a recycler in:

the cities of	the towns of	the village of
Brookfield	Brookfield	Big Bend	Merton
Delafield	Delafield	Chenequa	Nashotah
New Berlin	Lisbon	Dousman	Oconomowoc Lake
Oconomowoc	Merton	Eagle	Pewaukee
Pewaukee	Oconomowoc	Elm Grove	Wales
Waukesha	Summit	Hartland
	Waukesha	Lac La Belle

then we can talk. You are a part of the Waukesha County recycling program. Visit our website to learn what goes in the blue bin. Please note the beautiful pdf of what you can recycle. Yup. I know it looks good. I helped make that – so feel free to print a copy and post it near your trash can, recycling bin, cabinet door, family picture album, etc. Really, any place of high honor will due just fine. For all you others out there, I recommend you start with your local government’s municipal hall. If they are not in charge, they can hopefully direct you to who is.

For the most part, you are safe recycling paper (including newspaper, magazine, drink carriers, cereal boxes, cardboard, mail, office paper, and cardboard tubes), plastic bottles and jugs with a place for a twist cap (#1 & #2 only), aluminum and steel cans, and glass.

The most popular no-no’s include plastic bags, paper contaminated by food (like pizza boxes or juice containers), and lids from food containers.

Recycling just makes sense. When I give tours of the Materials Recycling Facility there will usually be one skeptic in the bunch. “But it costs too much to recycle” they say. Well, they might as well be wearing a polyester leisure suit or a hypercolor sweatshirt, because those ideas are just like the clothing: outdated. In Waukesha, recycling has been in the black to the tune of millions of bucks a year for several years. For more economic reasons to recycle, visit the Recycle MORE portion of our website. It also provides more local jobs than landfilling. Environmentally, the benefits are also huge. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to light up a light bulb for 20 hours! Recycling one ton of paper saves 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 380 gallons of oil, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, and enough energy to heat a home for 6 months.

This are the easiest items to recycle. It just makes sense. Commit to recycling one new item, like your paper towel tubes or dropping off your scrap metal to a dealer who will recycle it. Through these little actions we can all make a big difference.

recycle more,
Recycle Raccoon

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