Recycling is such a big thing here, and my kids love to recycle but does it defeat the purpose when you clean containers before recycling?
I’m talking about washing cans in the sink that contained oily products like tuna, sardines, oil containers etc

Im so happy that the human race is atleast trying to start cleaning up after them selfs, but I work for a big company here in Australia and wouldn't it be better if the goverment was pushing Mega Corporations into doing something so simply as recycling, then afterwards we can get down to product packaging(Stupid plastic wrap)

Anyways to answer your question, I do clean the cans and cartins when there is alot of wastage in them, but (e.g) if there a little bit of pasta sauce in its jar i normaly leave it. I'll always try and do my bit!

chocolatehandles said:

How does washing something defeat the purpose of re-using the material it was made out of? I'm not understanding your question...

CarrieMpls said:

i'm glad you said that. i was thinking the same thing and it made me worry that i was an idiot for not understanding it.

CarrieMpls said:

Because what ever is being washed is going down the drain into the sea and damaging the environment

chocolatehandles said:

Well, hazardous materials should never be washed down your drain... There are places to take that sort of rubbish.

If it's something that's safe to eat it's going to be safe for washing down a drain.

CarrieMpls said:

That sounds logical - but not what we get told.
We avoid washing anything with oil down the drain.
And a big NO NO is water based paint incluging kids finger paint.

I guess I never thought about oil... I don't buy anything packed in oil, I don't cook meat (I'm thinking of my mother reserving fat drippings in jars...) and any oil leftover in a pan or something gets washed in the sink, but that's about it, and that's really minimal amouonts.



I can see that it could build up in your pipes and that may be the bigger issue...

CarrieMpls said:

I'm going to take a stab at it and say that all the water used to do it increases your environmental footprint.



The biggest problem I have with recycling is that the process can be toxic, environmentally polluting, and also requires greenhouse gases to transport, make, and redistribute the products.

Don't get me wrong--it's better than just putting it in landfills.


But folks should consider using canvas bags (or any bags around the house), bringing their own cup to coffee shops, and avoiding anything with excessive packaging (one of the reasons why dislike Trader Joes so much).

I just want to say ...

I Imago ~

that's all ... carry on

Imago said:

Well yes, we should always highlight efficient use of water. I guess I still don't see how washing something defeats the purpose of recycling.

And I agree, we should use reusable products wherever possible. Keeping in mind we have to wash those things too. So really we're back to talking about efficient use of water.

It's as simple as reduce, reuse, recycle and particularly in that order.

i wish we would go back to glass instead of plastic

Imago said:

HOW DARE YOU!!

Just so you know, I recycle every single bag they give me... all 200 of them

Imago said:

'environmental footprints'