Recycling Tips That Everyone Should Know

On average, a single person generates nearly 100,000 pounds of waste over a lifetime. That’s a massive impact on our landfills, energy use, and natural resources. While reducing and reusing are essential steps toward sustainability, recycling remains one of the simplest ways we can make a difference at home—but only if we do it correctly.

Recycling can be confusing because every city has different rules, and even the symbols on plastic aren’t always clear. To help you become a smarter recycler, here are five tips that make a real impact:

1. Avoid Recycling Plastic Bags

Plastic grocery bags may seem recyclable, but they’re actually one of the biggest contaminants in recycling systems. These thin plastics tangle up machinery, causing breakdowns at sorting facilities.

If you want to recycle them, you’ll need to take them to special drop-off bins often found at supermarkets. Never bag your recyclables in plastic—place them loose in the recycling bin instead.

2. Skip Small Items

Anything smaller than a credit card—like straws, plastic utensils, bottle caps, or coffee pods—can’t be properly sorted and often clogs equipment. As a rule, if it’s tiny, it’s trash.

3. Clean Materials Before Recycling

Food residue is a major problem in recycling, contaminating about 25% of collected materials. Make sure containers are clean, empty, and dry before tossing them in the bin.

For pizza boxes, only recycle the grease-free sections. Tear off and discard the soiled parts to avoid contaminating the rest.

4. Don’t Recycle Mixed Materials

Products made of combined materials, like plastic-lined coffee cups or padded envelopes with bubble wrap, can’t be separated efficiently. These belong in the trash, not the recycling bin.

5. Stop “Wishcycling”

Placing non-recyclable items in the bin out of hope that “someone will figure it out” does more harm than good. Wishcycling contaminates entire batches of recyclables, making it harder for facilities to process them properly.

Recycling isn’t perfect, but when done right, it helps conserve resources and reduces waste in landfills. With these simple changes, we can each play a part in protecting the planet.

At The Ecofairy, we love turning everyday moments into opportunities to protect and nurture our environment. 🌱✨