TOLEDO, Ohio — We all know that recycling is important and it does a lot of great things for the environment, but what exactly are some of those things?
The Executive Director of Keep Toledo/Lucas County Beautiful, Adam Cassi, says recycling saves natural resources, creates jobs locally, helps our local economy and saves space in landfills, "but for it to work, it has to be done correctly."
Cassi says the problem boils down to three categories. One being that a lot of people think they're doing the right things when really, they're not.
He adds that another problem is called "Wish Cycling," which revolves around plastic.
"A kids toy or a coat hanger, it's plastic, I don't want to send it to the landfill, I really wish that it was recycled. But that's not how it works. It's not recyclable," said Cassi.
Those items that don't have a recycling symbol need to go in the trash or they can be donated.
Cassi says the final issue is confusion. People aren't totally sure what goes in the recycling and what doesn't.
So to break it down... "Focus on you kitchen, your bathroom, your laundry room. It's really the plastic items, plastic containers that are coming out of those three locations," said Cassi.
You should clean and dry those out as much as possible before recycling them.
Another thing people are confused about is Styrofoam. It's not recyclable locally, however you can bring it up to a facility in Ann Arbor.
If you are doing cardboard, make sure you are breaking it down as much as possible.
And, here's a good heads up before your next pizza party.
"As soon as you get chemicals or food waste or oil on your cardboard or your paper, it is garbage, you do need to throw it away. The big example there is your pizza boxes. They always have oil on the bottom. Throw them in the garbage," explained Cassi.
If you have any plastic bags, Cassi says you can always take those to a drop-off bin in a grocery store.