Washing out recycleables

ilovemybaby

First is recyclables a word?!

My city only takes plastics with a neck.  So bottles and that thing.  The other plastics I'm saving to take to a nearby city, they have a recycle center and they don't ask questions (like if I'm a resident!)

So I've been making my husband recycle yogurt containers, smart balance containers, etc.  He just complained that the water he's using to rinse out the containers probably is more wasteful than actually recycling it.

What can I tell him?  Its just a small amount of water that we're using to rinse, so it makes it worth it, right?

I need a snappy comeback for the next time he complains!!!  Thanks

Temp76535187505890

Do you have to rinse them out in order to recycle them or are you just rinsing since you have to hold on to them and you dont want them to stink?

Wish I had a snappy comeback for you but I dont.  I'd just send them through the dishwasher if I didnt have a full load since you're running it anyway.  

daisyterp

We don't have to rinse out- they don't want big hunks of food in there, but we definitely don't need to really clean out our recyclables.

margaret_howell

I can't remember what I was watching but it was something about recycling. and they were saying on there that the containers have to be rinsed out or the food that's left in there contaminates it or something. Probably because of mold. and they just throw it out.... I don't know if it was just that particular recycling center but it would be sad to go through all the trouble of recycling if they're just going to have to throw it away.
and I don't really think you're wasting a lot of water to rinse out a container compared to how long it takes for plastic to biodegrade....

Jen&Joe06

margaret_howell:

I can't remember what I was watching but it was something about recycling. and they were saying on there that the containers have to be rinsed out or the food that's left in there contaminates it or something. Probably because of mold. and they just throw it out.... I don't know if it was just that particular recycling center but it would be sad to go through all the trouble of recycling if they're just going to have to throw it away.
and I don't really think you're wasting a lot of water to rinse out a container compared to how long it takes for plastic to biodegrade....

This is probably very specific to that recycling center, it is certainly not the normal practice at the vast majority of places. The main type of contaimination that they worry about is non recyclables (different by each center) getting in with recyclables. They can sort through a lot of it but sometimes they can't and it ruins a whole "batch".

pixieprincss

We also have to rinse. I agree with the dishwasher idea a PP posted. Soaking in soapy water first also helps (peanut butter is the worst!).

Personally, we've found since our county started only taking necked items is that we now have HUGE incentive to not use tubs. We started making our own hummus to save containers, we only buy yogurt in the big containers now and then keep the containers to store things.

smurfetteinred

Jen&Joe06:

margaret_howell:

I can't remember what I was watching but it was something about recycling. and they were saying on there that the containers have to be rinsed out or the food that's left in there contaminates it or something. Probably because of mold. and they just throw it out.... I don't know if it was just that particular recycling center but it would be sad to go through all the trouble of recycling if they're just going to have to throw it away.
and I don't really think you're wasting a lot of water to rinse out a container compared to how long it takes for plastic to biodegrade....

This is probably very specific to that recycling center, it is certainly not the normal practice at the vast majority of places. The main type of contaimination that they worry about is non recyclables (different by each center) getting in with recyclables. They can sort through a lot of it but sometimes they can't and it ruins a whole "batch".

It's normal for us and it's normal for my inlaws in Minnesota. No food contamination is acceptable - we have to rinse everything or it will get junked. Heck the inlaws can't even recycle cardboard that's had food touch it like pizza boxes. We can.  It varies by area - some places wash their recyclables themselves and others expect you to do it before they collect.

smurfetteinred

Oh yeah - I'd remind your husband that water is (in most places) an easily renewable resource where landfill space is not. If I have something that's going to take more than a quicky rinse (like a pb jar) then I throw it in the dishwasher with the next load. No extra water wasted since the load was going to run anyway.

jen5-03

This article says that it's not necessary to wash out, but then says:

As one recycling center worker put it: "It sure is appreciated when people take a minute or two to wash [their food cans] ? it's a real day-wrecker when someone throws up because of the horrible smell."

https://www.slate.com/id/2210344/

 

nkintzel

I believe that it is not actually required to rinse. Even if your Solid Waste District tells you to, I don't believe that food residue actually contaminates. they melt it down. So, yeah, it just gets burned up. This information was given to me by my local Solid Waste Management District. (I work for the county Soil and Water Conservation District, so we're like co-workers in a way, she wouldn't tell me wrong)

Anyway, I think that its mostly done so that the stink and animal attraction is kept to a minimum. I like the idea that a pp had about running it through the dishwasher and what another pp said about water being a renewable resource as opposed to landfill space, which is not.

But, the BEST answer was what someone else said, don't buy the tubs! Remember, the four R's are Reduce, Re-use, Recycle (and now Re-think) but they are listed in order of importance. Reduce is far more significant environmentally than Recycle and re-use is even more important. Can you re-use your butter tubs? Or yes, don't buy them. We don't buy anything in tubs besides the large yogurts, because my husband and DS are yogurt consuming MACHINES. But, we usually re-use the containers for all sorts of things. Keeping random hardware in in the garage, pencils/crayons on my daughter's desk, etc.

Do you have a dog? hahah...can you let the dog lick the containers out? My husband lets the kitties lick out the yogurt containers when he's done. They do a dang good job.