Why You Can Recycle What You Can Recycle

Not long ago, Houston began recycling more than it had before. Now we can recycle Codes 1-5 and 7 (I don't know what the deal is with Code 6 - maybe its radioactive or something). My friends who live in the Northwest often give me flak for living in a city where green is the color of the money we get from selling oil, but now we can actually recycle more than they can. Yet we still have the reputation for drinking a big glass of petrol with our morning cereal.

Every city and municipality is different in regard to what they recycle. I never really understood why until I heard this NPR Story on why every city has different rules. The reason? Why, money, of course! Recycling is an environmental business, but it's still a business. We get to recycle what brings in the bucks. That's why our curbside recycling doesn't pick up glass. And why I can recycle this ...



(It's the bottom to a rotisserie chicken container) ...but I can't recycle the lid that goes with it; and why I can recycle the yogurt cup from Yo! brand yogurt, but not Activia.

Knowing more about my city's ordinances has made recycling kind of a game. I still throw away more than I should, or more than I might in some other cities. However, I love finding new things I never new I could recycle -- things like ...

(Take the labels off to protect your identity)

Join the game with me, and discover more weird things that can be recycled.