How to R-e-c-y-c-l-e on Long Island

 
Whenever I talk about recycling, this song comes to mind.  Readers my age might remember this educational clip from Nickelodeon's "Rocko's Modern Life"...

...but even those readers who haven't seen it before have surely heard of the importance of recycling.


Although it might seem like we have an endless supply of materials, most resources on the planet are finite. Recycling reduces the amount of potentially reusable materials that wind up in dumps. This, in turn, reduces the need to extract and use new raw materials to make products. In this way, recycling not only saves material, it saves money. Fellow blogger Molly Man commented how, according to Adrienne Esposito's article in Newsday, it costs $80 to dispose of garbage, while it only costs $40 to dispose of recyclables. Also, it can take up to 17 times more energy to produce an aluminum can from scratch than from recycled materials. I've heard on many occasions that recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours! Seeing thousands of cans wind up in landfills every day when they have that kind of potential is a shame for our world and our wallets.

So how do I recycle?

Each town on Long Island has its own recycling policies regarding what can and cannot be recycled, what days of the week are pick-up days, etc. The first step, then, is to find out what town you're in so you can follow their recycling protocol.  You can use Citidex Long Island to find out what town (called a "township" on their website) you reside in.  

Information on each town's recycling policies can be found on their web pages.  Thanks to LongIsland.com's thorough list of townships and their official websites, I've made this list with links to each town's recycling homepage:

Nassau County

• Town of Hempstead 
• Town of North Hempstead (print-out reference table)
• Town of Oyster Bay 
• City of Glen Cove
• City of Long Beach 

Suffolk County 

• Town of Bablyon (this FAQ gives relevant answers toward the middle of the page)
• Town of Brookhaven (the most helpful section is toward the bottom, called "Recycling".)
• Town of East Hampton
• Town of Islip (uses a drop-off collection system instead of a pick-up system)
• Town of Riverhead
• Town of Smithtown 
• Town of Southampton (uses a drop-off collection system)
• Town of Southold
• Three Village (follows Brookhaven's recycling guidelines)

Generally, towns will pick up your recyclables as they would your trash.  In these cases, you'll need to either request a recycling pail or a decal to leave curbside for sanitation.  A few towns in Suffolk, however, ask that you bring your recyclables to a recycling center.  In this case, you can designate a pail or bag in your house for recyclable materials.

Oftentimes, establishments like apartment complexes and dorms have a privately owned recycling provider instead of the town’s facilities.  You’ll want to check for extra guidelines in places like these, too.

It's very important to follow protocol for your town to avoid contaminating the collected recyclables.  It's helpful to print out guidelines and keep them on your fridge or near the recycling container.

Recycling Basics

• Check every plastic you're about to throw away for a recycling symbol!  You'd be surprised at how much can be recycled: fast food cups, Chinese food containers, packaging, shampoo bottles, yogurt cups...
• Make sure that you thoroughly clean your recyclables with soap and hot water.  Otherwise, any residue will smell and may cause mold to grow.  It also helps to remove and throw away bottle tops or leave containers uncovered so that leftover water can evaporate.
• Plastics' "recycability" is based on the type of plastic they're made of.  Each plastic is given a number code, 1 - 7, which can be found on the bottom of any recyclable plastic item in a triangle.  This website gives you more information on what each symbol means, some examples of plastics, and images of the symbols. 
• Some towns allow recycling of scrap paper (usually black and white printed computer paper).  Check your town's specific guidelines.  If it can't be recycled, you can reuse it by using the backside for taking notes.
• Newspapers, magazines, and cardboards can also be recycled.  Usually, they must be flattened, tied in a bundle, and left outside.  Again, check your town's specific guidelines.

It may take some time for recycling to become a habit, but once it is, you will see how second nature sorting your trash can be. Each container you recycle will end up being used again instead of wasting its potential away in a landfill.