The average person creates around 5 pounds of trash every day. This means that you’re responsible for almost a ton of waste every year.
It goes without saying that recycling as much as possible is vital. But what can you recycle?
If you learn how to recycle anything, you’ll bring down that yearly waste number by a massive amount. Keep reading to find out unusual things you can recycle and start living more sustainably today.
1. Cigarette Butts
This is definitely one of the most unusual unknown recyclables. If you’ve got an ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts, you can find a way to turn an unhealthy habit into a sustainable practice.
There are multiple companies that turn cigarette waste into plastic! They repurpose cigarette butts, but also the packaging. Simply find a company close to you that converts cigarettes into plastic and sends your waste in.
These companies will melt down your waste and turn it into hard plastic that can be used to make a variety of products.
2. Electronic Devices
Whenever you hear the word ‘recycle’ your mind likely thinks of plastic and paper. But the list of things you can recycle is so much larger than you think! And it includes most of your electronics.
You can recycle your laptop, phone, and many other devices. It’s so important to do this, as the culture of frequently upgrading to newer models has resulted in excessive e-waste.
There are plenty of options for recycling your electronic goods, find out more here.
3. Recycle Your Glasses
If you use prescription glasses, you’ve likely had to upgrade every few years. So, what do you do with your old ones? Unlike an old pair of shoes, you can’t simply hand out prescription glasses to someone less fortunate than you.
However, there are organizations that take old prescription glasses and give them to someone with a similar prescription. They’re able to connect your glasses with people all over the world so that they don’t go to waste and they help someone in need. Pretty great, right?
4. Carpet
Are you redoing the flooring in your home, ripping up new carpet, and replacing it? Instead of just dumping your old carpet, recycle it!
There are carpet reclamation facilities that will come and pick up your old carpet and recycle it. Alternatively, you can contact the manufacturer of your old carpet, as many companies have an in-house recycling program to reuse old carpeting.
5. DVDs and CDs
With the arrival of Spotify and Netflix, CDs and DVDs are becoming obsolete. But, you’ll be happy to know that these are recyclables and you don’t need to chuck them into your general garbage.
The material can be recycled and repurposed into a variety of handy things.
What Can You Recycle? Almost Everything
If you’re still wondering ‘what can you recycle?’ Hopefully, this article has helped you figure it out. The answer is almost everything! It just takes a bit more planning or effort for the unusual recyclables.