A napkin. A Starbucks cup. A plastic bag.
Each item is used by millions of consumers every day — sometimes multiple times a day — resulting in enormous quantities of waste. Some will toss the cup in the trash, others will toss the plastic bag in the recycling. But do residents make their choice of bin based on fact, or on what they think is correct?
An online poll by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries and Earth911 showed that 65% of respondents did not understand which plastics to place in curbside collection – leading to the contamination issue plaguing 16% of industry giants’ recycling operations. While this can be due to many factors – including numbers, source credibility, and various bans – one woman wished to put an end to it.
In 2014, Tracy Bugh began a mission to toss recycling confusion in the trash, making education easy and digestible across the nation. She called it, Recycle By City.
