How to recycle aerosol cans
Aerosol spray cans are technically recyclable by most municipalities, but the cans must be absolutely, positively empty in order to recycle them. Because the pressurized contents in the cans make them dangerous, even cans with very little in them need to be disposed of with household hazardous waste. What makes a spray can totally empty? When you press the nozzle and hear absolutely nothing at all. If you don’t even hear a hissing sound, it’s good to go for recycling. If you have any doubt, don’t toss it in the recycling bin.
ALUMINUM PIE PLATES
Aluminum is a very common metal that is easily recyclable. You should recycle it when you can. If you get a pie from the store, it’s usually packaged in an aluminum pie plate. That plate is recyclable if it’s totally free of any food residue. When the delicious apple pie is all gobbled up, place the dish in the sink and let residual water fill it up. Let it soak so all the bakedon mess rinses right off, then toss it into the recycling bin.
INKJET PRINTERS
An inkjet printer is more energy-efficient than a laser printer, which makes it a good choice for a home office. But
not all inkjet printers are the same. When shopping, be aware of the inkjet tank configuration. If the printer uses one universal cartridge for all colors, you’ll end up replacing it more often than for printers that use separate cartridges for separate colors. The reason is colors are used at different rates, so if you run out of one color when using a universal single cartridge, you have to replace it. That makes it a waste of resources and money.
RAW JUICES
Raw, cold-pressed fresh juices are all the rage these days, but they can also be dangerous to consume if you don’t enjoy them right away. Because these bottled juices are not pasteurized, they can easily become full of dangerous bacteria and yeast. So it’s recommended to never, ever consume these drinks after the expiration date on the bottle. And that date is often a mere two days after it’s been bottled. If the juice is expired, discard it and recycle the bottle.
FREE PLANTS
When you’re doing garden design work at home or constructing something that requires you to remove plants, think about giving the plants away. There is a real desire from people in your community to take healthy plants and use them in their own yards. All you have to do is dig up the bushes, flowers or small trees and wrap burlap around the roots. Or, even easier: Post your free plants on a site like Freecycle or Craigslist with the contingency that any takers come and dig the plants up themselves.
LIFE-CYCLE PLASTICS
When shopping for trash bags, consider trying new green bags that are totally degradable under landfill conditions. These new bags use something called “life-cycle plastics” that are just as durable as regular plastic trash bags, except they have one modification to accelerate their aging (or degrading). Under a landfill condition, the bags quickly return to organic matter and become a food source for microorganisms. You can find these bags now at all major home improvement stores, and they come in a wide variety of sizes.