New brands, varieties, or packaging types found September-December, 2009

I've continued picking up other people's discarded recyclables, but have stopped keeping tallies. At first, it was because concern over swine flu meant that I was tossing recyclables in whatever recycling bin I first came across instead of taking them home for logging. Then, things became really, really crazy at work, and I just didn't have the time or energy to deal with blogging. Now, I find myself itching to use my precious personal time for other things, including reading and commenting on other people's blogs. I may go back to entering tallies again in the future if I have more time on my hands.

Meanwhile, here is a tally of new brands, varieties, or packaging types found over the last few months:

• glass bottles: Howl beer, Paul Masson Grande Amber Brandy
  
• aluminum cans: Sprite Zero, Watermelon Four Loko Premium Malt Beverage (found outside an elementary school)
  
• plastic bottle: Sobe Fuji Apple Pear Lifewater
  
• metal bottle (really!): Bud Light beer (not sure where/how to recycle)
  

The metal Bud Light bottle was completely new to me. I went to www.budlight.com to see if there was any information on where to recycle it, and was shown this message:

Our site requires Flash 9 in order to present you with the highest level of interactivity available.
Please click here to visit the Macromedia site and download the free Flash player for your Web browser, then return to our site to experience our site at its best.

Messages like that annoy me no end. I'm using an old computer that can't handle Flash, and don't appreciate being kept out of the site just because I can't view flashy animations.

Anyway, I'm not sure what to do with the bottle. The local recycling contractor separates ferrous metals from other recyclables by using magnets, then sorts the remaining materials by shape and weight. The Bud Light bottle isn't attracted to magnets, and is light enough that I fear it could end up being sorted into a load of plastic bottles, which it would contaminate. What should I do with it?

Items collected during August 2009

Recyclables:

• 16 plastic bottles (1 Lemon-Lime Gatorade, 1 Tropicana Strawberry Orange, 1 Sprite, 1 Paul Masson VSOP brandy, 5 Deer Park water, 1 roadkilled Nestle Pure Life water, 1 Great Value water, 1 Safeway Refreshe water, 1 Kirkland spring water, 1 roadkilled Sam's Choice water, 1 water bottle without a label, 1 bottle of unknown contents without a label)
  
• 7 aluminum cans (2 Heineken, 1 Coors Light, 1 Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, 1 Hurricane High Gravity Lager, 1 Miller Lite, 1 Schlitz Red Bull Xtra Long Malt Liquor)
  
• 5 glass bottles (1 Mistic Orange Carrot Juice Drink, 1 Sprite, 1 Heineken, 1 Budweiser, 1 Smirnoff Ice Malt Beverage)

Reusables:

• 3 plastic carrier bags
  
• 1 black pen

Trash:

• Lots! Individual items weren't logged. Included were many cigarette butts.

The "Great Value" brand is new to me. The label says it's bottled by Niagara Bottling and distributed by Wal-Mart.

Items collected during July 2009

I'm still avoiding bringing home other people's recyclables, out of concern I'll bring home H1N1 flu. Instead, I've spent quite a bit of time picking up non-recyclable trash, which seems preferable at this time because the bags of trash can be tossed straight into a trash can without having to enter my home. (Recyclables almost always need rinsing.) I didn't even attempt to keep a list of the trash I picked up during the month of July. I did note, however, that it included an unusual quantity of foam packaging, much of it broken into pieces.

When I picked up recyclable bottles and cans that didn't have visible contaminants, I sometimes threw them into a recycling bin at work without bringing them home for logging, so I can't provide a complete list of recyclables collected. However, the following list should be fairly complete.

Recyclables:

• 12 aluminum cans (1 Natural Light beer, 2 Diet Pepsi, 2 Heineken, 1 Miller Lite, 1 roadkilled Coors Light, 1 round Coors Light, 2 Miller High Life, 2 roadkilled Diet Coke)
  
• 20 plastic water bottles (7 Deer Park, 2 Aquafina, 6 Kirkland, 1 water bottle without a label, 1 VASA, 2 Poland Spring, 1 Dasani)
  
• 1 torn plastic bag

Reusables:

• 2 black pens
  
• 5 plastic carrier bags
  
• 1 small plastic bag
  
• 1 very long, very narrow plastic bag

One odd thing about the July tally is that it doesn't include any glass bottles. It's possible I picked some up and threw them in a recycling bin at work without logging them, but it's still odd that there would be such a discrepancy between the number of glass bottles and the number of aluminum cans. I can't explain it.

I have largely given up on picking up plastic bottles, because I find the environmental benefits of recycling plastic less clear than the benefits of recycling aluminum or glass. However, one day I felt compelled to pick up numerous plastic bottles. I was participating in a group walk for a cause I believe in, and was dismayed to find my fellow participants tossing their used water bottles onto the ground. I always find it disconcerting when people who are activists for one of the causes I believe in turn out not to care about one of my other causes, in this case the environment. I wanted to say something, but settled for whipping out a bag and filling it with discarded bottles. I wish I could also have collected the hundreds of bottles that were "properly" disposed of in overflowing trash cans, but I lacked the time and bag space to do anything about those. I'm already thinking ahead to the next walk, and am wondering how to raise the issue of plastic pollution with the organizers and participants. Any suggestions?

Items collected during June 2009

I'm still avoiding handling other people's trash, out of concern I'll bring home H1N1 flu. However, there have been times when I couldn't resist picking up recyclables or reusables, usually because they were within 10 feet of the river and I knew that picking them up was a now-or-never thing.

Recyclables:

• 4 glass bottles (1 Everfresh Grape Strawberry, 1 Elephant Malt Liquor, 1 Corona Extra, 1 S. Pellegrino mineral water)


• 4 aluminum cans (1 Steel Reserve lager, 1 Yuengling lager, 1 roadkilled Diet Pepsi, 1 Heineken)


• 3 plastic bottles (1 Dr Pepper, 1 Dasani water, 1 Strawberry Powerade Zero)

Reusables:

• 1 trash bag


• 1 plastic produce bag


• 1 newspaper bag


• 3 plastic carrier bags


• 1 black Sharpie marker

The trash bag and produce bag had never been used, and were still folded tightly in the way plastic bags are only when they're brand new. I've never figured out why unused bags are so commonly found in the environment. It's especially hard to understand when it comes to bags like trash bags that actually cost money to the people who lose them.

Tally of items collected in December 2008

RECYCLABLES

• 33.5 aluminum cans (31.5 alcoholic, 2 Diet Coke)
• 16 glass bottles (12 alcoholic, 1 without a label but believed to be a beer bottle, 3 non-alcoholic)
• 62 plastic bottles (32 plain water, 2 former water bottles repurposed for holding other beverages, 16 other non-alcoholic beverages, 4 alcoholic, 8 unknown)
• 3 torn plastic bags
• 1 brown paper bag
• 2 newspaper sections

REUSABLES

• 12 plastic carrier bags
• 12 small plastic bags of a size suitable for dog waste (number includes a plastic sleeve I knotted at one end to turn it into a bag)
• 1 coat hanger
• 3 black pens
• 1 blue pen

TRASH

• 1 set of 6-pack rings from around Coors Light cans
• 1 plastic carrier bag so filthy I threw it in the nearest trash can
• 1 plastic bottle lacking a recycling symbol and resin type
• 2 torn plastic bags without resin numbers
• 1 dead pen

Tally of items collected in November 2008

RECYCLABLES

• 13 aluminum cans (10 beer, 1 seltzer water, 2 Diet Coke)
• 18 glass bottles (15 alcoholic, 3 non-alcoholic)
• 48 plastic bottles (28 plain water, 1 alcoholic, 19 other)
• 3 torn plastic bags

REUSABLES

• 1 huge carrier bag
• 7 medium sized plastic carrier bags
• 20 small plastic bags of a size suitable for dog waste
• 4 blue pens
• 2 paper clips
• 1 rubber band
• 1 coat hanger

TRASH

• 1 plastic bag too torn for reuse that couldn't be recycled because it lacked a resin number
• several loads of random trash from a lawn
• multiple plastic items at the entrance to a drain

There are no surprises in November's tally. As expected, the cold weather meant that I found fewer recyclables than in October. Also as expected, I didn't bother to stop and pick up as many reusables as I could have. In particular, I went past many rubber bands without picking them up. I just didn't want to deal with taking off my thick gloves so I could pick them up.

I feel guilty about my failure to pick up the rubber bands, along with all the polystyrene cups, plastic chip bags and other trash I routinely ignore. I'm aware that there's a lot more I can and should do to clean up the environment. At the same time, I want to avoid the burn out that would undoubtedly occur if I tried to pick up every piece of trash I went past. Perhaps a reasonable compromise would be to designate one day per month Clean Up Day, and on that day go out with lots of bags and pick up as much trash as I can.

Tally of items collected in October 2008

I've been picking up recyclables for a long time, but October 2008 is the first month I kept a record of all the recyclables I picked up. I went through quickly just now creating a tally of what I collected during the 31 days of October. I hope it's correct. My eyes glazed over several times while adding up the numbers, and I didn't double check them. Anyway, here's what I came up with:

RECYCLABLES

• 29 aluminum cans (23 beer, 1 malt liquor, 1 lemonade, 4 soda)
• 26 glass bottles (22 alcoholic, 4 non-alcoholic)
• 70 plastic bottles (44 plain water, 24 other, 2 unknown)
• 3 other recyclables (1 brown paper bag, 1 torn plastic bag, 1 cardboard wrapper)

REUSABLES

• 7 carrier bags large enough to use as trash bags (see note below regarding number)
• 12 small plastic bags of a size suitable for dog waste
• 9 rubber bands
• 9 other reusables (3 twist ties, 2 paper clips, 2 blue pens, 1 Sharpie marker, 1 wire coat hanger)

TRASH

• 1 plastic Coca-Cola bottle so mangled that it was beyond my ability to remove the mud from it
• 1 set of plastic rings from around a 6-pack (cut into strips before going in the trash)
• 3 plastic bags too torn to be used that couldn't be recycled because they lacked resin numbers
• 1 dead pen

I'm surprised by some of the numbers. I hadn't realized that almost all the aluminum cans I pick up are beer cans. I had thought I picked up more diet soda cans. Similarly, I hadn't realized just how few glass bottles contained non-alcoholic beverages.

I'm not surprised by the statistics on plastic bottles. I knew there were a lot of them, and that although more than half of them contained plain water there were also many containing soda, Gatorade, or other beverages.

I have mixed feelings about whether picking up recyclables is worth the effort. On the one hand, I think it's great that there are 125 fewer bottles and cans littering the streets and river. On the other hand, most of what I picked up was plastic, and plastic simply isn't recyclable the way aluminum and glass are. I wonder what will happen to the plastic bottles I picked up, and whether they'll simply end up polluting someone else's community instead of my own.

One thing I do feel positive about is the number of plastic bags I picked up and made use of. It feels good not needing to buy trash bags. I'm pretty sure I picked up significantly more than the 7 carrier bags listed in the tally above, and failed to make note of some of them because I put them straight in the bag I carry with me everywhere. It always contains multiple plastic bags, so it's easy to lose sight of additional bags. What I know for certain is that my stockpile of carrier bags is huge and continues to grow each month.

As the weather becomes colder, I expect to ride the bus more and walk less, which will mean collecting fewer recyclables. I doubt the tallies for November, December, January or February will reach 100. With growing media attention to the problems of single-use plastic bottles, I hope that by next summer there will be fewer people tossing their empty water bottles on the ground, and that even in summer I'll continue to find less than 100 recyclables per month. Only time will tell.