Cheerios Box
Meat Packaging
Bag of Sunchips
What it’s
made of:
Cardboard, plastic bag
Polystyrene, plastic foam lining and plastic film
Plastic with foil lining
Can it be recycled?
Cardboard boxes can be recycled but have to be collapsed. The plastic bag can be recycled in the grey bin.
The plastic film and foam can’t be recycled but the polystyrene tray can be as long as it’s
labelled #6.
No.
How long it will be biodegrading
Cardboard: Two weeks
Plastic: about 500 years
Polystyrene doesn’t. Plastic film takes 30 to 50 years. Foam can vary—corn-based foam can biodegrade while regular can take up to 500 years.
Plastic takes about 500 years but the foil won’t biodegrade.
If you’re feeling creative…
Cut the flaps and store your printer paper in it. Magazine junkie? Great way to keep your glossy books neat and organized. Cut up the plastic bag and use to grease pans for baking, wrap sandwiches or freeze cut-up veggies.
Get it over the counter from your local butcher. Instead of getting hamburger patties individually-wrapped and packaged, ask the butcher to grind up some chuck that’s only wrapped in paper.
By Earth Day 2010, PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay plans to release a package for SunChips where all layers are made from PLA (polylactic acid) material so the package is 100 per cent compostble. For now, try buying snacks
in bulk.
Tim Hortons Cup
Nestle Ice Tea Bottle
Yoplait yogurt container
What it’s
made of:
Paper cup
Glass
Hard plastic with mixed foil lid
Can it be recycled?
Most disposable cups can’t be recycled because they contain
different materials.
Glass is recyclable and perfectly reusable.
The lid can’t be recycled but the container can be.
How long it will be biodegrading
Five to 15 years but more than 5,000 years for cups that use styrofoam.
One million years.
Depending on the thickness of the carton, 450 to 1,000 years.
If you’re feeling creative…
Invest in a thermos. You get more coffee in one go, save money if you make the coffee yourself and put it in your bag between class.
Clean it and use as a vase for the last fall flowers or fill it up with
loose change.
Buy larger tubs with re-sealable lids. Clean it out and use for snacks, homemade jams or to store old batteries.
—Haley Mitchell
Sources: madehow.com, greenecoservices.com, natural-environment.com, treehuggers.com and fritolay.com
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