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Check out this article I found on Eco Salon about 10 Surprising Things You Can’t Recycle!

4/21/2013

10 Surprising Things You Can’t Recycle by Katherine Butler on October 26, 2010 in News & Culture

If you live with a greenie, dramatic scenes can play out over the blue recycling bin. Styrofoam can be recycled, right? Hangers for sure. Why are you putting that pizza box in the trash? For the love of Al Gore, won’t anyone think of the cardboard? (And cue silent scream.)

As it turns out, throwing certain items into the recycling that you are utterly convinced can be recycled is actually worse for the environment. Oftentimes, bad items can taint an entire bin, resulting in the whole load going into a landfill. This largely depends on how well a city’s recycling facilities can sort. But it’s enough to throw a person into high anxiety with every trip to the waste bin.

Not to worry. Here’s a quick list of 10 surprising things on the “Do we or don’t we?” list. And always, if you’re in doubt about an item, check Earth911.com for a facility near you that may take your questionable trash bit.

Pizza Boxes I know, I KNOW. It seems like these cardboard boxes are made for the recycling bins. But pizza boxes are often tainted with food and grease. Many items are recycled using a heat and water process, which is not problem for plastic and glass. But throw some cardboard soaked in oil into the process, and you’ve got a messy muck. Terry Gellenbeck is a solid waste administrative analyst for the City of Phoenix. As he told Earth911, “The oil causes great problems for the quality of the paper, especially the binding of the fibers. It puts in contaminants, so when they do squeeze the water out, it has spots and holes.”

Wire Hangers Most recycling centers are not set up to handle wire. However, experts agree that your local dry cleaner may take them. Often, they reuse them or send them to a scrap metal dealer. Sure, they get the cash, but you get the knowledge you’re not sending wire hangers into the great abyss. Joan Crawford would be proud.

Plastic Bottle Caps Plastic bottle caps are considered less valuable on the market, so most recyclers won’t take them. Make sure you separate them from your plastic bottles. Also, you can check Earth911 to find a facility near you that does accept plastic bottle caps.

Juice Boxes Check to see if your juice box is specially-processed for recycling. If it isn’t, you have to throw it in the trash. The plastic coating on much of the cardboard renders them unsuitable for recycling.

Plastic Bags When recycling bins are sorted manually, workers cannot open plastic bags to see what is inside. It isn’t cost-effective and could be dangerous. So they get trashed. (Note: don’t put your plastic bottles and more in plastic bags.) You can often take your plastic bags back to the store for recycling – and consult Earth 911 again for places that will take them.

Styrofoam Another one that kills me, because how many times do we get handed Styrofoam containers we don’t want? But Styrofoam is a petroleum product and, more importantly, highly flammable. It’s considered a danger to most recycling centers. Again, Earth 911 may provide locations that will take it from you.

Wet Paper Paper fibers that have been soaked are shorter. This makes them less valuable to paper recyclers, who won’t collect and mill them.

Paper Napkins or Towels Again, food contamination often takes these paper products out of the running. Try to use wash clothes or handkerchiefs instead.

Ceramics You would think that your old coffee mug would find a home in your recycling bin. Alas, they are not accepted at most recycling centers. Consider giving them a second life with a houseplant or in your garden.

Heavily-Dyed Paper When paper is recycled, it is heat-treated. So if something is heavily dyed, it has the same outcome as a blue sock or red t-shirt thrown in with your whites in the washing machine. Consequently, a lot of paper mills won’t take the results. (Pastels are okay.) Life can still be colorful, just a bit toned down!

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So you have a Deer hanging on your office wall…Now what?

4/16/2013

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The slogan attached to our great city Austin, TX is to “Keep Austin Weird” We have all heard it, and most likely all seen it too! I live here and still find myself laughing daily at some Keep Austin Weird Moments. From the lady on the sidewalk in front of Black Swan Yoga with her mat doing yoga right there in front of all the 5th St passers by, to the guys that ride bicycles around in a nude thong for no apparent reason other than a better sun tan, we have all seen it! However some of us may turn our noses up to those quirks in Austin and not even realize that inside most of our homes we have some odd things going on. Since our cleaning service is quite personal we don’t offer estimates over the phone. We prefer to come out and meet the potential client and their homes to get an exact idea of the level of dirt, surfaces, pets and number of occupants in the home so we know just what to bring to service properly.

What might not seem weird to you may seem weird to your house guests Let’s face it every one doesn’t like everything. So everyone that steps foot in your home may not understand the value in the items you have in your home and the reasoning behind them.

The weird object We live in Texas so it may not seem weird but having a deer mount on your wall is quite odd. It states many things without even asking.

1. You don’t mind a dead animals hanging out in your home while you are gone

2. You have taken pride in your latest hunting victim and want all house guests to acknowledge you for it

3. You live outside the box and have realized that pictures aren’t the only things that can hang from the wall

How to clean the weird object Since this large object has now found a home on your wall and most likely in a very high place that is unreachable to most, how in the world are you going to keep this thing clean. You barely have time to clean the obvious items in your home so this thing is going to take some research. Don’t worry about researching it we’ve got you covered in 2 steps.

DON’T

Whatever you do DON’T VACUUM IT! I know you are probably anxious to pull out that awesome vacuum with it’s wonderful cleaning tools for every surface but I can guarantee you your vacuum doesn’t have an attachment for “weird objects” or deer mounts. Vacuuming a deer mount will cause more damage than good. Using any kind of suction on the mount can damage the hair and create tufts of hair to stand up and then you may have an even more weird object on your hands than you started with.

DO

Do use a microfiber rag and gently wipe the hair the way it grows and not the opposite way. Use a lambswool duster to remove any cobwebs that have attached themselves. Also take the time out every 6 months or so to look inside the ears and any openings on the mounts to look for any bugs that may have found a new home. Some bugs like to start eating away at your mount if it hasn’t been preserved right. If you see bugs appearing and eating away at the hair you know your mount was not preserved right and you should take it back immediately to fix the situation.

Housekeeper alert Make sure to educate your housekeeper or cleaning company on how often and what to look for in cleaning your weird objects in your home. Because All Purpose Cleaner really isn’t All Purpose. Especially in this matter.

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Check out this article I found on Eco Salon about 10 Surprising Things You Can’t Recycle!

So you have a Deer hanging on your office wall…Now what?

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ARCHIVES......... BUT YOU CAN TYPE IN THE SEARCH BOX ABOVE FOR A KEYWORD IN OUR BLOGS FOR HELP FOR YOUR HOUSE CLEANING NEEDS IN AUSTIN

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