Let’s help Lexington do a better job with recycling as it makes changes to program

For Halloween this year I dressed up as a blue recycling bin. As my partner tossed trash my way, I dodged many of the items declaring, “Not in my bin!” We filmed it to show my online class of fourth graders the following day. My Halloween costume was a hit!

At a local brewery recently, my friend inadvertently tossed her plastic cup into the bin labeled recycling. As she pulled it out, I noticed the entire bin was full with items that Lexington does not accept: refrigerated soda boxes, plastic cups, and plastic utensils.

I asked, “Is this the recycling bin?”

“Oh yeah, but it doesn’t matter,” the worker replied.

It’s clear that the city’s recycling responsibility lies not only on local businesses, but also on us as individuals at home. However, a walk through my neighborhood the eve before recycling pick- up revealed a similar story of seemingly negligence and disrespect. A greasy pizza box, a Tupperware lid, plastic yogurt containers, and bubble wrap are among some of the items that the Lexington recycling center workers would be pulling off the conveyor belts and tossing the following day.

Please visit https://www.lexingtonky.gov/recycle to review Lexington’s newest guidelines as of November 2020. There is an exciting change! Here are a few tips to better understand some of the more confusing rules for proper recycling.

▪ Paperboard (i.e. cereal boxes, shoe boxes, toilet paper rolls) is being accepted again! No paperboard for soda boxes or refrigerated/frozen goods.

▪ Plastic bottles must be smaller on the top than the bottom, like water bottles. And please remove their lids.

▪ Clean out cans and bottles before tossing them into the recycling bin.

▪ Paper is not on the list for your blue bins, but there are yellow bins around the city where you may drop off your clean paper.

Although it may seem that the city of Lexington isn’t recycling enough these days, the reasons for the changes are complex. Instead, I believe Lexington is finally taking ownership for their own trash by selling it to local buyers. Long gone are the days of shipping dirty recycling overseas to have someone else deal with our problem. And long gone are the days of using the numbers on plastic containers to determine if it is recyclable or not. “Plastic Wars”, a Frontline special on PBS, will tell you that the numbers put inside the well known symbol for recycling, the chasing arrows, were adopted by the plastics industry to promote their plastic products when they were under threat in the 1980s. It misled the public to think that all those plastic items with the numbers were recyclable when in fact that was far from the truth.

Finally, we all know the motto: “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.” Recycling has always been listed last for a reason — it takes a massive amount of energy to convert recycling back into new products. Therefore, if you really want to reduce your own contributions to climate change, not only must you recycle correctly, but more importantly reduce your consumerism and reuse items before tossing them.

Kathy McDonald is an elementary school teacher in Lexington.

This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 10:33 AM.