Do you wash your recycling?

Question

We are lucky where we live in that we have a 3 bin recycling programme. A bin for general rubbish, green waste (food, plant matter) and also a recycling bin for stuff that doesnt go in those other two bins. I always wash out tins, bottles etc. Do you wash your recycling? Are you encouraged to recycle?

Answer 1

No. That would be a waste of our valuable water.

Answer 2

Yes we recycle and wash/rinse out the items.  We also keep a scrap bucket (ice cream pail) in our kitchen for table and food scraps.  These get tossed outdoors for the cats/wildlife/birds.

Answer 3

I recycle everthing, and yes I always wash it out. No one needs to smell your recycling from a block away.

Answer 4

no the companys will do that when they get um

Answer 5

I lightly rinse to get the food stuff out because the recycling center prefers it that way and I don't have curbside pickup so it sits around a while attracting ants and ick. But I do try to conserve the water I use by doing it with dirty dishwater.

Answer 6

Yes, I wash/rinse my recycling but I usually use water (caught in a bucket under the tap) that has already rinsed my dishes. I then use the gray water to flush the toilet or water shrubs outside (I use vegetable based dish soap so the small amount in the water does not harm the plants).  Our community recycling dumpster does not get emptied until full (sometimes 2-3 weeks) so rinsing the items helps cut down on insect and rodent attraction.

Answer 7

no I just put the cans and bottles in the bin....im a perfectionist so I would have to waste SO much water washing them out....b/c i want no residue left in or on them before i recycle them

Answer 8

Yes I wash mine.

They ask you too.

And NO they do NOT encourage us to recycle,

but its my lifestyle.

Im 12 and I know that, Im doing something very good for our environment, and all who live here.

Answer 9

I'll rinse them out when I need to.  We have recycling bins here where I am, but aren't encouraged to use them, no. Sad state of affairs.... too little, too late.

.

Answer 10

yes.  i wash out everything:  plastic, glass and metal.  also remove any labels and plastic caps.  some caps have a different recycling number then the bottle.

Answer 11

Where I live, water is not in short demand, we get 80+ inches of rain a year.

so yes I do rinse out cans, but there is now recycle plants here so if it doesn't have a CRV, THEN RECYCLING IS NOT AN OPTION.

It might be different if there was a problem with the air being clean, but we also have no smog or air pollution.

Answer 12

I wash glass and plastic to make them more suitable for recycling. Metal, whether steel ("tin" cans*) or alumin[i]um, need not be cleaned, as whatever is on them will be burned off when the metal is melted down; however, to prevent odo[u]r I rinse them off as well.

My municipality collects all glass, metal, paper, and plastic that has a recycle code on its bottom. As to green waste, it goes down the sink drain (through a grinder) or the toilet bowl; its fate there is to be biologically broken down anyhow.

(*So-called "tin cans" are steel with a thin tin coating.)

Answer 13

I find that it's good to rinse the containers of food and liquid, just to be courteous and i believe you are supposed to.