You said "You finish a bottle of water, rinse it out..."

Are you really suggesting that people rinse out empty water bottles? What would they rinse them with, more water?

For that matter why would anyone waste water rinsing out any bottle that is going for recycling, considering that the recycling process will take care of it when the materials are MELTED and reformed into new products.

I agree Michael! I laughed out loud when I read that!

I always put the lid on my bottles before I put them in the recycle bin. What happens to the lids? Do they somehow get taken off before the bottle is recycled?

michael and educated, i too rinse out my bottles, but only the ones that will draw bugs...like soda and juice bottles...i put the lids in the trash and bottles in my recycle bin...been doing this forever and not really knowing why...just the way we did it in hawaii...

Where is this alleged Mass floating? Maybe we can send all of the enviro nut jobs to live there. Then they can all live like the Sierra club wants us to...not showering and reverting to outdoor plumbing.

Isn't Pleasanton Garbage supposed to be sorting the contents of the blue recycling trash cans? That was my understanding of what was to happen when they introduced the blue cans, that the sorting operation run by Pleasanton Garbage at the transfer station was going to be converted from sorting all the trash to sorting the various materials coming in from the recycling trucks. If not, then I am even more POed about the rates we are paying.

Ahhhh - but what about the white ring of plastic that is made from the same material as the cap that is attached to the bottle...are all of you taking that off too? Or from the from the soda bottles? I am gung ho on recycling, but when there are different rules and regulations for each community because of the company they use to recycle, it becomes harder and harder to determine if what we are recycling really is being recycled.

To Green -

Maybe those of you who are "anti-environment" should go live out at the landfill since you love garbage so much. That would make a lot more sense than asking environmentalists (who are trying very hard to eliminate the garbage island in the pacific) to go live on it..... BTW, no one is suggesting lack of showers or indoor plumbing.

But people like you are bound and determined to turn the whole world into either a mini-mall or a garbage dump. Is that really so much fun?

Pleasanton residents who live in multi-family dwellings like condos or apartments are not given a recycling option. All trash goes into big dumpsters. I asked for blue bags and was told they are no longer an option. In a very small living space it is not reasonable to collect and take to the recycle center.
A large percentage of residents live in multi-family dwellings, this is a BIG gap in recycling!

To Reasonable-

Ha, I knew I would get a rise out of someone. Why don't you really drive home your point by you and your extended family not using any mini-malls or dumps for the next year! Or even better, you could move to a country where they hate growth, capitalism and economic prosperity. Take a stand!

Glad to see others are tuning into this. Lids are usually not recycled and worse yet if a bottle has the lid still attached it might not get recycled at all. Our Girl Scout troop just took this on and introduced it to Valley View Elementary. They are forwarding their collection to the appropriate company. Remember to not only recycle but to buy goods made from recycled material!

Whatever side you're on, it's great that you care enough to be tuned in to the problems. Twenty years from now, we're going to be sitting around with recycling systems set in place saying,"remember when we used to get confused about what to do with the bottle caps..."

It's ironic, but now that we have 3 large cans to supposedly alleviate the amount of garbage going into landfills, we seem to be filling up 3 cans where we previously filled two. Seems the real benefits here are to the garbage monopoly from the increased rates.
Another case of so-called good intentions at our expeense so someone can feel good about themselves or alleviate their guilt.

I have a Girl Scout Troop who just earned their Bronze Award educating classrooms on this very thing. Each girl was responsible for a presentation to a class, full of facts on recycling and garbage, a collection container for all the kids to participate and bring in their caps, and posters for advertising and marketing their goal. We have a giant garbage bag full of caps that the girls have saved from a landfill!

Maybe the newspaper can do a small article on how this troop of 5th grade girls worked so hard to make their mark on their community using resources to address a problem not widely known, but very current and important!

Read this:

RECYCLE CAPS WITH AVEDA
Web Link

"Your school can be part of the solution by joining recycle Caps with Aveda"



Even when you screw the cap on the bottle, the crushing process often pops them off. Seems lame that we need a special program for caps. Couldn't they just modify the machinery?