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If You Say So

As long as I’ve lived in apartment buildings and whether I’ve rented or owned, I’ve observed one thing about building managers: They like signs. My all-time favorite: “Read sign on table. The Management.” Capital M to boot.

So recently, my building manager started posting rather elaborate signs in the garbage area. One actually incorporates clippings from a magazine to create a sort of stalker-esque collage. Its message is good - to summarize: Before you throw stuff away, make sure you recycle what you can. But y’know, duh.

Monographs could be written about the efficacy of sign-posting, or lack thereof, but one thing’s certain: They do stand to be misinterpreted (especially when written in the passive voice), especially when one needs to cull the meaning of the message from within an artsy collage of seemingly random imagery. From the smell of things, it appears that no one in my building is worried about rinsing out their recyclables at all - either that, or the sign is convincing certain someones that they can recycle all their trash.

-Jenifer Morgan…off to post a sign about it…
Posted by: tmeronek on 03/18/2008
related tip
Don't bother - you can recycle it with the lime still inside. In fact, none of your recyclables need to be spotless, since most "contaminants" get cleaned out or burned away during remanufacturing. We'll drink to that.
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Catherine  on March 18, 2008 at 04:55 AM 1
Thanks! This was a good tip.
Robin  on March 18, 2008 at 07:10 AM 2
The main reason that I try to clean my recyclables is the bug factor -- if there's food residue in the container, you're more likely to attract them. But I usually do the rinsing/cleaning when I'm already doing dishes, so I'm not using "new" water to do it.
Alysen Woodruff  on March 18, 2008 at 08:35 AM 3
from a recycling coordinator: Recyclables don't have to be squeaky clean, but they cannot have heavy contamination like heavy wads of mayo, peanut butter or salsa on jars. In addition, heavy grease on pizza boxes is a contaminant. Yes, don't use too much water, but the items need to be reasonably clean to be accepted at market. In addition, insects and rodents are attracted to heavy food residue which is a problem (health and otherwise) at collection sites, collection routes, processing facilities and end markets. Imagine if you were a recycling collector or handler and picked up an uncleaned can of dog food in the middle of summer with maggots in it??????? So, be conservative with water, but get the major gunk out first.
Lorna  on March 18, 2008 at 09:07 AM 4
I agree about the bugs and rodents. I use my dishwater I already have to clean them. And then some rinse water is used in my yard to water plants and trees. I even dump gray water out in the winter in the midwest. I guess it is all about how concerned we are about the earth.
Rob  on March 18, 2008 at 09:23 AM 5
I have an issue with today's tip. If your recyclables are going to end up in a huge container before they get shipped off to the recycling plant (and you can virtually guarantee that they will), washing them beforehand is actually wasting more water, correct? Unless everyone washes their glass recyclables, the whole batch is going to have to be washed.
JD  on March 18, 2008 at 10:10 AM 6
I'm all for saving water, but if we don't thoroughly rinse our recyclables, we'll have a serious ant problem in no time flat. We keep our bin outside, but still it will attract ants, flies and bees if we don't rinse things out. Then, the ants take over the patio and make the trip indoors. Plus, an insect-laden bin is no fun to carry to the curb on Fridays.
Kathy  on March 18, 2008 at 11:31 AM 7
Here in BC, Canada we have to rinse bottles before returning them to the government liquor stores due to the impact of molds on employees' health. http://www.bcliquorstores.com/en/customerservice/depositrefund Related news article: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5404/is_200011/ai_n21466717/pg_5 For this reason, I tend to always rinse my recyclables.
Adam Schlachter (Waste Consultant)  on March 18, 2008 at 12:00 PM 8
As Alysen points out above, the items don't have to be squeaky clean to be remanufactured. The reason that most programs require or ask that items be cleaned is strictly for hygiene reasons. Many places offer every other week recycling versus weekly and the amount of food residue that builds up over 1 week much less 2 weeks can be noxious (due to rot!) and attractive to those pets you DON'T want to be having at your house. When the commodities get processed into new materials, regardless of makeup, they are all broken down, cleaned and processed. This is why some food "contamination" is OK. A quick rinse to get the big chunks out is usually sufficient, especially if your bin sits outside. A little more cleaning if you keep it indoors. One of the other people mentioned pizza boxes as a contaminant...one good way to get rid of them is to shred the box and add it as carbon bulk to your compost bin. Happy Recycling!
Risa  on March 19, 2008 at 06:43 AM 9
Here where I live in Germany it is law that you recycle and it is also law that your recyclables be clean when they go into the large sort containers at the sort centers. Otherwise you cant put them in. The easiest way to do it is simply to wash them AFTER you have washed your dishes and use the old dishwater. You are not using extra water and it works well enough to clean the recyclables!
Linda  on March 19, 2008 at 08:10 AM 10
Jen, what's a "monograph"? Is that just a fancy way of saying "volumes"? Anyway, as previous posters said, empty food containers put out for recycling have to be fairly clean, not necessarily "squeaky" clean, but at least reasonably clean, or else they're unacceptable for recycling, for the many reasons stated above.
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