Eco-Friendly Family
gakester8
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recycle PB jars?
gakester8
member
My local news showed the recycling center saying that it makes more sense to throw away a PB jar and conserve the water it would take to get it clean enough to recycle. Do you agree? I can't decide.
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Re: recycle PB jars?
That is such terrible advice! Even if it takes more water, there is so much more to it than just water. Not only does it cause unnecessary filling of landfills, producing a new jar requires significantly more energy (I think about a third more for glass) than recycling one (for extraction of raw materials, transportation and production). Specifically regarding water, it takes much more water to produce a bottle as to wash one (i wish i had the figures). And if they were talking about plastic, there's also the oil required to make the bottle.
However, it may cost less (in financial terms, only) to make a new one than recycle one.
Better advice would be for people to use a spatula to get as much pb out as possible before cleaning it for recycling.
ETA: Reworded
I put it under the stream of water when I'm doing hand dishes, then close it up and shake it with that warm, soapy water inside, and let it sit overnight. Works every time, and it's water I was using anyways.