Tuesday's Living Green Tips

Have you ever looked at the bottom of a plastic container (laundry detergent, milk, mustard, etc)...most have this little triangle with a number inside it...Do you know what that number means?


Each number is given to a different type of plastic...the numbers go from 1-7 with one being the easiest and most commonly used type of plastic...


Hubs and I have really started looking at these numbers because we want to make sure we are recycling correctly, so this weeks Living Green Tip is about the different numbers and what type of plastic goes with said number and some other interesting info...

1. PETE or PET (polyethylene terephthalate): used for most clear bottles. Examples include soda and water bottles, vinegar and medicine containers, and many other common consumer product containers (some shampoo bottles). Once it has been processed by a recycling facility, (number 1) can become fiberfill for winter coats, sleeping bags and life jackets. It can also be used to make bean bags, rope, car bumpers, tennis ball felt, combs, cassette tapes, sails for boats, furniture and, of course, other plastic bottles.
2. HDPE (high density polyethylene): used for “cloudy” milk and water jugs, opaque food bottles. These are heavier containers such as laundry detergents and bleaches as well as shampoo and motor oil. Plastic labeled with the number 2 is often recycled into toys, piping, plastic lumber and rope. Like plastic designated number 1, it is widely accepted at recycling centers.
3. PVC or V Poly(vinyl chloride): used for pipes, rain coats, shower curtains, meat wraps, cooking oil bottles, baby bottle nipples, shrink wrap, clear medical tubing, vinyl dashboards and seat covers, coffee containers, vinyl siding on your house, and linoleum. PVC is useful because it resists two things that hate each other: fire and water. When you try to burn PVC, chlorine atoms are released, and chlorine atoms inhibit combustion. This stuff is difficult to recycle and PVC is a major environmental and health threat.
4. LDPE (low density polyethylene): used in wrapping films, grocery bags and sandwich bags.
5. PP (polypropylene): used in rigid containers, including some baby bottles and some dishwasher safe cups and bowls, Tupperware®, syrup bottles, yogurt tubs, diapers, outdoor carpet.
6. PS (polystyrene): (Styrofoam) used in foam containers with those “claim-shell” tops, meat and turkey trays, and in its rigid form, clear take-out containers, some plastic cutlery and cups (clear & colored). items such as coffee cups, disposable cutlery, meat trays, packing “peanuts” and insulation. Polystyrene may leach styrene into food it comes into contact with. Styrene is also considered a possible human carcinogen by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research and Cancer.
7. OTHER(usually polycarbonate): The hotdog of plastics! Used in 5-gallon water bottles, some baby bottles, some metal can linings. Products labeled as "other" are made of any combination of 1-6 or another, less commonly used plastic...This is the Hardest Plastics to Recycle. These plastics are the most difficult to recycle and, as such, are seldom collected or recycled. More ambitious consumers can feel free to return such items to the product manufacturers to avoid contributing to the local waste stream, and instead put the burden on the makers to recycle or dispose of the items properly. Polycarbonate can release its primary building block, bisphenol A—a suspected hormone disrupter—into liquids and foods.

Not all plastic products are labeled with a number. If you’re unsure don’t hesitate to call the manufacturer directly. Also look on food product packaging for toll-free telephone numbers where consumers can ask questions.

You do not need to clean plastic completely before taking it to the recycling center...a quick rinse to get most of the liquid out will work just fine...