Backing you up on the energy efficiency of recycled vs virgin aluminum - I have a geology/earth science background and I can attest that soooooo much energy + money is saved by using recycled aluminum. Despite being incredibly abundant in the earth's crust, aluminum is Very energy intensive to separate from host rock (and it isn't super common in pure ore form). So not only is it better for the planet to recycle aluminum, it's significantly more economical as well! (Not that saving corporations money is the goal, but it's at least an incentive for them to do the right thing lol)

One thing that really bothers me is when pizza boxes for example say that they are 'recyclable', because the boxes were recyclable when they were manufactured. Of course, once they've got food or grease on them they are no longer recyclable and can contaminate the waste stream when people put them in recycling, thinking (understandably so) that they are doing the right thing

@micivalantincic8227

Жыл бұрын

Yes! I am always pulling it apart and putting the lid that has no greas in paper bin and the rest in general waste. Also people plasticated "paper" in paper bin

@kirstinevad347

Жыл бұрын

If you have a garden you can kompost them. 🌲🌱👍

@olafiske5505

Жыл бұрын

Isn't that a myth? I read studies that say it's okay to throw away the pizza boxes for carton boxes, even if they are bit greasy. "WestRock’s study found, cheese and grease "at typical levels" do not impact the quality of paper and cardboard manufactured at mills using recycled materials. Technology gets some of the credit: Over the years, paper mills have become more adept at screening out chunks of cheese during the pulping process. Meanwhile, it turns out that it's the very rare mill that receives pizza boxes in a volume large enough to impact its end products. As a result, the AFPA just responded with new industry guidance: Pizza boxes are recyclable. Consumers need only make sure that they empty the boxes of stray slices and crust, plus any chicken wings, sauce containers, pizza savers, and anything else that might be left inside. (Pizza savers, those little three-legged plastic tables that keep the cheese from sticking to the top of the box, are sadly too small to be recycled.) There is no longer any excuse to hold onto this oldest, and most common, of recycling myths." source: Sierra Club website

@alisonbirchall262

Жыл бұрын

@@olafiske5505 oh wow, thank you for this! I stand corrected! I just hope the recycling workers are aware too, so that they don't reject batches of recycling that have pizza boxes in (I shall check this before I start putting them in recycling, just in case)

@rachelbarker5410

Жыл бұрын

Pizza boxes are recyclable here in NZ providing they don’t have actual food in them. The grease is fine and doesn’t impact our recycling process.

I cut up old clothes and bed sheets and use them as cleaning rags. My grandparents used to do this and over time you get used to buy cleaning rags but honestly if the material ist mostly cotton or viscose it works quite well. Of course it doesn't look very aesthetically but i don't care too much. i also crocheted dis sponges out of old T Shirts. I wash everything at 90°C. I do this with everything that is falling apart and not good enough to be donated. If you donate stuff like this it takes up more work force for the sorting company and it will end up burned or whatever.

Hi Gittemary. Thank you so much for calling out the myth around the carbon footprint of recycling. As someone involved in practical work to take resources circular it’s really frustrating to have ‘fake news’ like that being circulated. It makes it much harder to implement real positive change. Totally agree about your ‘producer pays’ point as well and how that can change behaviours. Bring on product stewardship with eco-modulation fees!

I‘m currently in Spain (travelling low-budget in a van) and most veggies/fruit can be found in bulk and packaged. But the loose vegetables and fruit cost 50-70 percent more than the same type in plastic packaging. Its so sad and I really wonder why… anyways, thanks for this great video! 😊

What are some questions we should be asking our local recycling facilities?

The "recycling label " ♻️ with a number in it is not at all for that. It's the plastics identification code (PIC), which has no direct relation to recyclability, BUT WAS DESIGNED TO LOOK LIKE IT DOES. Plastic is mostly fossil fuel based and like anything using FF there's a lot of vested interests (and some very valid essential uses of plastic) that keep the system running

@Gittemary

Жыл бұрын

Perhaps I wasn’t clear, the plastic identification code is absolutely not the same as the recycling “label”, however the logo around it, the Mobius triangle is used, and misused to communicate recyclability, unrelated to the PIC

@rachelbarker5410

Жыл бұрын

The ISO standard covering the plastic identification code has actually switched to a solid triangle rather than the mobius loop. Unfortunately, the ship has sailed on this one so it doesn’t matter which is used - the general public still see it as a ‘recycling label’ even when it’s not.

I didn't know that plastic and paper can't be recycled forever 😬 thank you Gitte for sharing this, makes a lot of difference!

@ozok17

Жыл бұрын

paper can eventually be turned into new plants through composting it, though. Edit: corrected a misspelling (oops).

Once I dated a guy.. But when he told me "I don't believe in recycling nor separating my trash" i was so turned off by his stupidity & ignorance I had to stop seeing him 😂✌️

Thank you Gittemary for the great content! I only have one thing to add/let you know: the symbol on plastic products is Not the actual , which is why so many plastics are not recycled. For reference: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin_identification_code (tldr: "the arrows arranged in a triangle resemble the universal recycling symbol, a generic indicator of recyclability. Subsequent revisions to the RIC have replaced the arrows with a solid triangle, in order to address consumer confusion about the meaning of the RIC, and the fact that the presence of a RIC symbol on an item does not necessarily indicate that it is recyclable.")

Thanks for sharing this awesome video Gittemary debunking these recycling myths. Love 🥰 the video and love 💕 Gittemary.

Thanks for the video!

10:38 no. They would not think of what to recycle. They will start thinking about who to fire.

loved it... all things I've wondered

I used to be a religious recycler but then I married a man who's Mom manages the city's recycling budget. She told me the city loses a ton of money on recycling for two reasons; we sell a majority off as waste at a loss and plastic bags/soiled cardboard can gunk up the conveyor belts, causing the center to shut down for maintenance. I only recycle clean aluminum now. Hate the game, not the players.

what are your thoughts on enzymatic recycling of plastics ? on paper at least it sounds like a great solution, that should definitely deserve more traction and more funding... i'm just beginning to learn about waste management so i might be naive though...

@rachelbarker5410

Жыл бұрын

This is one of the advanced recycling/chemical recycling technologies emerging and has good potential for improving the circularity of plastics. It can’t be used on all types however. We’re going to need a variety of different types of advanced recycling to handle all of the different types of plastics. It’s also important to use mechanical recycling first as it has a much lower carbon footprint than chemical recycling.

@darklittlepeople

Жыл бұрын

@@rachelbarker5410 thank you for the explanation, i really appreciate it. however, i seem to recall it was way more energy efficient than the usual way of recycling... i'll have to find the video and rewatch, i suppose. i like finding out not everything is doom and gloom, that there is a glimmer of hope for the future. it doesn't mean we don't need to reduce our consumption of single use plastics and we definitely need to be more mindful of everything we consume, and make responsible choices, but kids who are growing up with nothing but the allarmist news have practically no horizon to look forward to, and that's absolutely devastating.

Not a fun fact about the waste produced by a person who has certain chronic illnesses but those who rely on multiple injectable/intravenous medications such as insulin for diabetes, steroids for adrenal insufficiency or other illnesses that need steroids and those who require intravenous medications/fluids such as IVIG, tpn and/or the various types of iv fluids. And don't even get me started on the waste produced by those who have to use finger sticks for blood sugar testing or the MASSIVE amounts of sterile and therefore single use supplies for caring for the various central venous access devices such as ports (infusa port, chemo ports or power ports-> they are all essentially the same thing). The waste produced from medical necessity is unfortunately a necessary evil if people who have certain (and typically very specific) chronic illnesses want to live relatively complication free. And unfortunately, any medical product that has come into contact with blood (syringes for various injectables ie insulin or iv needles whether a traditional peripheral iv needles or specialty needles in the case of huber needles) or has come into contact with a blood path (syringes to flush ivs/ports or iv tubing and iv medication bags/containers) is not able to be recycled outside of personal use by the individual whose blood or blood pathway came into contact with the specific medical product.

@11235Aodh

Жыл бұрын

These are for the most part necessary, but things that make me very angry is that i get a contactllens holder with each bottlle of lens cleanser. I've spoken about this and they say it's for hygenics. Just tell the people to boil that lens holder once a week maybe instead of just providing a new plastic holder each time. I use my glasses most of the time to reduce use of contact lenses.

@lesliehyde

Жыл бұрын

@@11235Aodh you may not want to have knowledge about the nasty and highly resilient bacteria that can survive being boiled or even exposed to uv light radiation...... Trust me and be kind to your eyes (your eyes will thank you for it), even if you wear your contacts once a month, change out that lens case every month. And if you wear contacts that get tossed after two weeks, change out the case on the same schedule. And if your eyes don't require custom contacts due to severe corneal defects (I can't remember the medical term for it) or severe astigmatism for the clearest vision possible, then try to stick with just glasses.

@micivalantincic8227

Жыл бұрын

@@11235Aodh if you can, look into eye surgery. (Lasik) I had one cca. 3 years ago and now I don't need glasses or contacts. I know not every one is a candidat for that surgery.

@11235Aodh

Жыл бұрын

@@lesliehyde Hmm good points, but wouldn't there be another solution than to provide everyone with new plastic holders every so often?

@11235Aodh

Жыл бұрын

@@micivalantincic8227 Aye, thanks :), I have done so but i damaged my other eye when i was very young so i only have 1 functioning eye (who is lazy) so laser correction isn't an option (very high risk).

Jeg skulle skrive fra KrisserClausen at han er stor fan!

Hi! Thought you'd want to know that I got a really "lovely" Forestry Industry ad before this video.