closing the gap in recycling

September 24, 2008 by Sara Zoe.

One of the things that pleases me most about eating so locally is how little trash comes into and goes out of my house. With minimal packaging of whole foods, re-use of bags at markets, and glass containers for my milk and yogurt, my household has unwittingly reduced the number of things that go to the landfill.

But things still get in - and it frustrates me to no end that I can’t recycle plastics other than #1 and #2 in my town. Here comes a partial and interesting sorta-solution. Maybe. I say maybe because I’m just not sure about mailing things to the middle of ny to be recycled - can someone help me out in figuring that out?

Decreasing the Waste Stream: Recycle Yogurt Containers
Recycline Website
 
Without your yogurt cups, sour cream containers and other #5 plastics, we wouldn’t have the materials to make our 100% recycled plastic products: toothbrushes, plasticware, and kitchen products.
 
When we first started collecting #5 plastics from partners like Stonyfield Farm® and buying materials from curbside recyclers 12 years ago, we figured that it wouldn’t be long before every recycling program in the country was accepting #5 plastics. However, from your phone calls and emails, we know that a lot of you are concerned that your local recycling program still doesn’t take #5 plastics. Now we have a good solution - send them to us!
 
Buoyed by the success of our community-based Gimme 5 and other long-time programs to keep #5 plastic out of landfills, Preserve will now directly accept all of your #5 plastics. Together we can keep these valuable resources out of landfills and turn them into stylish, useful new products. Send us any and all clean #5 plastics.

Many common food containers - yogurt cups, sour cream containers, hummus tubs, ketchup bottles - are #5 plastics.

· We accept any CLEAN whole plastic item with a #5 stamp on the bottom. Please check to make sure that there are no other materials (paper, screws, other number plastics) on the items that you send to us.
· All #5 plastics sent to Preserve must measure no more than 2′ x 2′ x 2′.
· Make sure that the #5 plastics are clean - the cleaner the plastic, the cleaner the recycling process.
· To help make this program a win for the environment, it is important that you send your plastics back to us via ground shipping (as opposed to air). Reuse a box if you can!
· Shipments should weigh at least 5 pounds and no more than 50 pounds. Any package greater than 50 pounds must be pre-approved by Recycline.
· Make sure to include your return address on the box and add your name and email address inside the box so we can thank you for your good work.

Send Gimme 5 shipments to:
Preserve Gimme 5, 823 NYS Rte 13, Cortland NY 13045
If you have any questions about the Gimme 5 program or need to get a shipment approved, call us at 888-354-7296.

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